Pittsburgh Review

Jake Woodford's first two spot starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates were promising, allowing just one earned run over 11 innings. However, his third start did not follow suit as the Seattle Mariners hit two home runs and scored seven runs (five earned) off Woodford, resulting in a 10-3 loss for the Pirates at PNC Park on Sunday.

Both home runs came with two strikes. Cal Raleigh hit a two-run homer on a sweeper in the first inning, and Josh Rojas followed with a center-center sinker for his seventh home run of the season in the fourth inning.

“One of them was a decent pitch, and then one of them was just as middle-middle as it gets,” Woodford said. “Just going back and look at video and make some adjustments and just try to execute a little bit better in those counts.”

Woodford had been performing well since being called up at the end of July, providing quality innings during a challenging period for the Pirates' rotation. Sunday's performance was an exception; he failed to get any swings-and-misses on 22 attempts against his sinker and cutter.

"I think we know he's a sinker-slider guy, a sinker-cutter guy, and he's got to put the ball on the ground,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Today he was up and in the middle of the zone. In the previous two outings we saw him down and got a lot of contact on the ground. Today, when he's up in the zone, he's not as effective."

The Pirates' rotation remains strained following fewer available starting options post-Trade Deadline and Marco Gonzales’ season-ending left forearm injury. Jared Jones is expected to make at least one more rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis before returning.

“He’s looked good down there,” Ben Cherington said about Jones during his radio show on 93.7 The Fan Sunday afternoon. “Fastball is back up to 100. Physical reports have been good.”

Without Jones, Pittsburgh may continue with Woodford or consider Domingo Germán from their Major League roster for upcoming games. The club has yet to announce Wednesday’s starter against Texas Rangers but aims to avoid pitching Paul Skenes on four days' rest.

On offense, Joey Bart stood out by hitting his career-high 12th homer off George Kirby’s four-seamer projected at 430 feet to right-center field in the sixth inning.

Bart's offensive performance this year has been notable; he is batting .277 with an .883 OPS over 56 games after being drafted second overall by San Francisco Giants in 2018.

"I mean, I have no idea, really,” Bart said about his success this season. “Just coming in every day prepared and going out and competing... But it's really just coming out every day ready to compete as a team and win.”

“He's gotten better throughout this year,” Shelton added regarding Bart’s progress. “You can never put a timeline on a player... What he did today was impressive.”