Pirates offensive frustrations boil over in 5th consecutive loss

PITTSBURGH — Rowdy Tellez slammed his bat on home plate, ruining its integrity before snapping the twig into two pieces.

The first baseman expressed his frustration after popping out in foul territory during one of a few Pirates rallies Saturday evening at PNC Park.

The Pirates couldn’t muster much offense in their 4-2 loss to the Red Sox, giving the club its fifth straight defeat. Over that stretch, runs have come at a premium; the Pirates have just eight of them since the start of the Mets series that they were swept in.

Unlike in their previous four games where hits were infrequent — 17 in total — the Pirates had no trouble producing baserunners against Kutter Crawford. The deceptive Red Sox starter entered the afternoon leading all qualifying MLB pitchers with a 0.42 ERA in four starts, and gave up a season-high seven hits to the Pirates and issued three walks.

But every time they put runners aboard, the Pirates came up empty. Joey Bart led off the second with a single, yet was quickly erased when Tellez grounded into a double play.

The Pirates even loaded the bases on Crawford in the fifth. In back-to-back at-bats, though, Jack Suwinski and Joey Bart each went down swinging to end the Pirates’ best threat against Crawford.

Still, the Pirates did push a few runs across. After Tellez’s pop-up in the fourth, Jared Triolo plated a run with a two-out RBI single. Connor Joe also came off the bench in the eighth to hit a solo shot, the Pirates’ first home run since Sunday against the Phillies.

But that blast from Joe qualified as the Pirates’ entire output against Boston’s bullpen. Ultimately, the Pirates didn’t take full advantage of the nine hits they racked up, going 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base.

Now, the Pirates are a game over .500 with an 11-10 record thanks to their current skid.

On the mound

Mitch Keller gave up two runs in the first inning, but responded with four shutout frames, during which he faced just one over the minimum. His evening was undone in the sixth when Masataka Yoshida homered to right on a sinker down the pipe.

Keller, who had yielded only four earned runs over his previous 13 innings, matched that total on Saturday. It marked the third time in five starts this season that Keller has given up four earned runs.

The right-hander also issued a season-high four walks. Still, Keller needed only 88 pitches, 57 of them strikes, to get through his six innings.

In a low-leverage spot, Luis Ortiz looked sharp. He provided two scoreless innings in relief of Keller, getting back on track after giving up three earned runs to the Mets on Tuesday.

At the plate

Five years from the date of his MLB call-up, Bryan Reynolds was one of the few bright spots in the Pirates’ lineup. He went 3 for 4 with a trio of singles from the No. 2 hole.

While the rest of the Pirates collectively have struggled to get on base this week, Reynolds has been an aberration. He has reached base in five straight games, with a hit in four of them and four walks.

Reynolds is hitting .277 with a .798 OPS and two home runs.