Pirates' season slips further away with 3-0 loss

March 16, 2012 8:41 pm

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By Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HOUSTON -- When these Pirates lose, the postgame chatter tends to center on the small circumstances, the bad pitch here, the missed opportunity there, that contribute to the defeat.

That was the case again last night after the 3-0 blanking by the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

If only a couple of soft Houston hits had not found holes, Ian Snell might not have been tagged with a tough loss ...

If only the offense had mustered more than two hits off the Astros' Taylor Buchholz, who wound up an out shy of a shutout in his second career start ...

If only Jason Bay had ripped one over the wall to tie the score in the ninth ...

But the elephant in the living room, the one that rarely seems to merit an unsolicited mention in the Pirates' clubhouse, is the team's record, now at 5-14. It is the worst in the National League, and it might end up being part of the worst April in the franchise's 120-year history:

Not since 1957, when they were 4-8, have the Pirates finished with fewer than six victories in April in a season not shortened by a labor dispute. They have seven games left.

The lowest winning percentage for any April post-1900 was .200 in 1952, when they started 3-12. The current percentage is .263, but it could bottom out at .192 if they lose the next seven games.

Manager Jim Tracy is as aware of the Pirates' position in the standings as he is of all the minutia that has led to it, and it doubtless weighs on him heavily. But, true to his invariably upbeat demeanor, he opened his postgame news conference by praising his pitching, as well as those who set up the latest futile ninth-inning rally.

When asked about the Pirates' record, he dismissed it.

"There's the better part of five months of baseball to play," Tracy replied.

He pointed instead, as he has consistently, to the team's determination and how tightly it has contested most of its games. The loss last night was the ninth in which the tying run reached the plate in the ninth inning.

"We're not getting beaten down," Tracy said. "We need a pitch. We need a basehit at the right time. I mean, it's day after day. Sooner or later, you'd like to think that, if you continue to put your ballclub in that kind of position, then somebody has to step forward and start doing something. But we find ourselves in that position every day."

The players appear to have adopted much the same approach, focusing on what they are doing right -- which, most often, is individually -- rather than all that has gone wrong. Perhaps that is because so many are so young, still trying to prove themselves.

Reliever Salomon Torres, one of the Pirates' veteran leaders, expressed a mix of exasperation and optimism when asked about the record.

"Our record is definitely frustrating, especially when you know you have a good ballclub," he said. "It's just amazing. We're one thing away every night. We could be 14-5 instead of 5-14."

He shook his head.

"They can put us down, but we'll keep getting back up and asking for more. We will keep battling. Look at our games. We're playing good teams, and we're competing with them. In years past? Maybe that wasn't the case. Now, you can see we're closing the gap. It's not a one-sided game for us anymore. We just need to get over that hump."

This latest defeat, the Pirates' third in a row and fifth in the past six games, came despite a solid six innings from Snell. He entered with a 9.60 ERA through three starts and had been criticized by management after his previous outing, but he gave up only two runs.

One of those scored only because center fielder Chris Duffy badly misjudged Craig Biggio's leadoff popup in the first and allowed it to drop. Biggio would come around to score after two outs.

The other run Snell allowed came on a Lance Berkman sacrifice fly in the fifth that put Houston up, 2-0.

"I was mixing in all my pitches," Snell said. "They had no clue what was coming. I felt great out there."

Snell felt his right calf tighten to start the sixth, and Tracy pulled him afterward.

John Grabow relieved in the seventh and gave up a solo home run to Biggio to make it 3-0.

Buchholz retired the first two batters in the ninth, but Duffy reached first on a Biggio error, and Jack Wilson singled through the right side.

Houston manager Phil Garner brought on closer Brad Lidge to face Bay, and Lidge planted a 96-mph fastball on the outside corner for a full-count called third strike to end it.

Buchholz, 26, had a 42-43 record in six minor-league seasons, but he dominated the Pirates by attacking the plate: He fanned five, walked none, and 75 of 104 pitches were strikes.

"I don't know if we had any hitter's counts," Tracy said.

The Pirates' balance has tilted in the past week. Their rotation has turned in six quality starts in the past seven games, but the offense has been held to two or less runs in five of those.

The hole could get deeper soon, as the Pirates are about to face two of the National League's three 20-game winners last season: Roy Oswalt today in the series finale and Chris Carpenter tomorrow night in St. Louis.

Pat Sullivan, Associated Press
Pirates' Jason Bay swings for strike three in the fourth inning against the Astros yesterday at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Click photo for larger image.