NewsVasquez's quality start goes for naught
Pirates struggle to come up with runs against Cubs
By Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com
07/01/09 11:27 PM ET
PITTSBURGH -- Looking to secure back-to-back wins against a division opponent for just the second time this year, the Pirates struggled to find offensive support in a 4-1 loss to the Cubs in front of 15,770 at PNC Park on Wednesday.The loss, the Pirates' 23rd in 34 games against National League Central foes, featured what has become a consistent inconsistency from the offense. In their past seven games, all at home, the Pirates have averaged just three runs. In fact, the club has lost three of the past four games despite allowing its opponent four runs or fewer.
Certainly, Chicago's rookie starter, Randy Wells, deserves credit for limiting Pittsburgh to one run on six hits in seven innings. But as the players told it afterward, there was still some blame to be had.
"They say hitting is contagious. I guess not hitting is contagious, too," shortstop Jack Wilson said. "We fall into these ruts where we get our chances and don't capitalize. [Wells] pitched good. But we had guys on a couple of times and didn't score. You have to put runs on the board when you're getting good pitching."
Pittsburgh received its share of decent pitching from starter Virgil Vasquez, though he was more critical of his performance than the statistics would indicate. Coming off his encouraging first performance in the rotation, Vasquez put the Pirates in an early hole when he served up a two-run homer to Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee three hitters into the game.
Vasquez would contend with his share of baserunners over the next few innings, but he wasn't hurt again until the sixth, when he left a straight fastball over the plate that Kosuke Fukudome sent deep to push Chicago's lead to 3-1.
"I'm not getting that one back," Vasquez lamented afterward.
"I just got in some situations where I didn't get ahead in the count and didn't pitch to contact as well as I could," he added. "It was just one of those days. I just didn't have that rhythm and didn't have the quick innings to help the hitters out."
Though he didn't allow the Cubs to tack on many runs, Vasquez did run up his pitch count quickly. He was up to 101, 55 for strikes, by the end of the sixth, which would be his final inning. Not counting the intentional pass he issued in the sixth, Vasquez went to six three-ball counts, two of them leading to walks. An additional seven at-bats went to a two-ball count.
"With the type of pitcher I am, I have to pitch to contact," Vasquez said. "I didn't do that well tonight. It wasn't the same as my first outing."
Though he had only one 1-2-3 inning, Vasquez kept the Pirates within striking distance by stranding six runners, half of them in scoring position. He also benefited from a nice defensive play by third baseman Ramon Vazquez, who gunned down Chicago's Milton Bradley at the plate with one out in the fourth inning.
"I thought Virgil pitched pretty well," manager John Russell said. "He throws strikes. When you throw strikes, you're going to give up some hits. Unfortunately, tonight two of them went out of the park."
Offensively, it looked like a flashback to Monday's game, when starter Zach Duke made a quality start that the hitters couldn't support. On Wednesday, the Pirates struck back for an early run thanks to Brandon Moss' two-out RBI single in the first, but they would be limited to four more hits over the final eight innings. Wells pitched seven of those frames.
"Wells did an outstanding job," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Our pitching was the story today, and just enough hitting."
Russell's praise was much the same.
"Wells threw a great game against us," Russell said. "He didn't miss his spots against us at all. He didn't give us much to hit."
The Pirates, down by one at the time, had what looked to be a promising opportunity in the fifth, though. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who came up with a pair of two-out RBI singles in Tuesday's win, came up with two runners on and two out.
He responded again, lacing a single into left, but Jack Wilson was thrown out easily by left fielder Sam Fuld.
"When Freddy hit it, I thought we had a chance," Wilson said. "It was to [Fuld's] right a little bit. I knew he had to turn and make a pretty quick throw. He did."
It was a night for Fuld to shine all around, as he also collected his first Major League hit, which put him on base to score on Lee's home run.
"I was playing a little shallow to begin with," Fuld said of the defensive play. "I didn't have to go laterally too much. Right off the bat, I felt I had a chance to throw him out."
The Pirates would not have another hit the rest of the night.
Two new additions to the club, Garrett Jones and Joel Hanrahan, made their Pirates debuts in the loss. Jones, who started in left and hit third, went hitless in four at-bats. Hanrahan allowed one hit and struck out one in an inning of relief.
"Maybe I got a little too pumped up out there," Jones said, "but Wells kept the ball down and didn't give me much to hit."
The Pirates need a win on Thursday to ensure a winning 10-game homestand.
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
