Pittsburgh Review

PITTSBURGH -- The home clubhouse at PNC Park was silent Wednesday afternoon following a disheartening loss by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team squandered a seven-run lead in the final three innings, losing to the Chicago Cubs 14-10 and completing a series sweep for Chicago.

The Pirates had hoped to bounce back after losses earlier in the week, including a ten-run defeat on Monday and a rough outing for Jared Jones on Tuesday. However, Wednesday's game turned into their biggest blown lead since 2011, contributing to a difficult August in which they have gone from playoff contenders to holding a 7-18 record.

"I don't know about the last three, but today, it's right up there,” said manager Derek Shelton when asked if this was the most challenging series of his tenure. “I don't know if I've been as pissed as I am right now."

After building a 10-3 lead through six innings, Shelton sent reliever Kyle Nicolas out for another frame. The Cubs responded with two runs, prompting Shelton to bring in Aroldis Chapman. With Colin Holderman still on the injured list and Carmen Mlodzinski likely unavailable after pitching two innings on Tuesday, Shelton attempted to get another inning from Chapman. However, Chapman allowed three runs before being replaced by Dennis Santana.

Closer David Bednar entered the ninth with a two-run lead but allowed one run and loaded the bases. Cubs catcher Christian Bethancourt then hit an 0-1 fastball that shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa could only deflect into left field, putting Chicago ahead 11-10. Jalen Beeks secured the final out but not before allowing additional runs.

"[Bednar] had no command of the secondary stuff,” said Shelton. “Had to throw fastballs. I mean, we almost got out of it... We have to cover. We had a 10-3 lead into the seventh. We have to cover the game."

The loss marked Bednar’s sixth blown save of the season and increased his ERA to 6.32 over 50 outings. Since returning from injury on July 12, he has allowed 16 runs (15 earned) in just over fifteen innings.

August has been particularly tough for Pittsburgh with eight one-run losses and seven blown saves leading the league during this period.

“There's no complacency. It's execution,” said Shelton. “We've got to execute... If you don't execute at the end of games, you don't win games.”

Paul Skenes provided some perspective after allowing three runs (two earned) with six strikeouts over five innings: “You’ve just got to really hammer down playing for each other... Get back to our identity as a team.”

Bryan Reynolds echoed this sentiment: “We’ve got to just stick together as a team and have each other’s backs.”

Connor Joe added: “It’s not going to do anyone any good to deviate from the team... Stick together.”