Pittsburgh Review

PITTSBURGH -- The quote of the night didn’t come from the Pirates’ clubhouse Tuesday, but rather social media. As a two-hour and 40-minute rain delay continued with no end in sight, Andrew McCutchen posted what many were thinking on his X account: "What’s up guys. Idk what we’re doing."

McCutchen sent that post at 9:16 p.m. ET, one hour and one minute beyond the original estimated restart time. However, the intense rain caused a flash-flood effect on PNC Park’s warning track, resulting in the drainage system being overrun by dirt. Puddles in the outfield needed an additional hour and a half to clear to make conditions safe for play, resulting in a rain delay longer than the actual nine innings played (two hours, 40 minutes compared to two hours, 37 minutes).

When play did resume, it was the Pirates’ defense that faltered, allowing three hits to find leather but not result in outs during the decisive fifth inning in a 6-0 loss to the Padres.

“I mean, it's [the delay] and then you end up playing a bullpen game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “They’ve got a good bullpen, and we didn't keep them at bay.”

Tuesday marked the second time in four days that a Pirates’ starter had to exit early because of rain. This also occurred with Mitch Keller during Saturday’s win over the Diamondbacks. While Pittsburgh had an off-day Monday, these forced short starts have taxed the bullpen as they approach a crucial three-series stretch against the Padres and Dodgers that could determine their playoff chances.

Bailey Falter was sharp for two innings before spending most of the night in the weight room or on a bike. Shelton didn’t outright say whether Falter could have returned if play had resumed at 8:15 p.m., but this was just Falter's second start since returning from left triceps tendinitis. The southpaw didn’t sound optimistic about re-entering after acknowledging there is usually about a 45-minute window for pitchers to return following a rain delay.

"It was definitely frustrating," Falter said. “I feel like we all saw this coming, but for some reason, we still played on time. But that's above my pay grade. My job is to go out there and toe the rubber when I'm told, and that's exactly what we did."

The Pirates turned to Jake Woodford for innings relief; after two scoreless frames, defensive errors unraveled his outing in the fifth inning. A Jackson Merrill liner glanced off Rowdy Tellez’s glove for a double; David Peralta followed with a base hit under Jared Triolo’s glove; then Tyler Wade blooped one that Ji Hwan Bae couldn’t snag while sliding.

Had those plays been made differently, Woodford might have exited with no runs allowed instead of three.

“He’s throwing the ball well,” Shelton said of Woodford's performance despite adverse conditions. “There’s nothing he could do in that situation... He couldn’t have thrown a better pitch to Peralta.”

The Pirates brought their potential tying run to bat with two outs in the seventh inning but ended their best rally of the night when Triolo struck out.

The team faces little time to regroup as every game remains pivotal for their NL Wild Card chase ahead of Wednesday's match where Marco Gonzales will start as he builds back from an arm injury.

“I’m going to have to get with [pitching coach] Oscar [Marin] and see where we are at,” Shelton noted regarding future pitching strategies.

###