Without David Freese, Pirates fizzle in loss to Cardinals

Only one bench player was unavailable to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. But he was one of the Pirates’ hottest hitters, and his absence created a domino effect that potentially played a critical role in a 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

David Freese hit .400 with 11 RBIs over the first eight games of the homestand, but a stubborn contusion in his right forearm made him off-limits for manager Clint Hurdle.

“Not having him,” Josh Harrison said, “it changes the whole dynamic of what has to happen in the game.”

Although another strong outing by Trevor Williams kept the Pirates close, they lost for the sixth time in their past 10 games partly because of missed opportunities with runners in scoring position. None were bigger than in the fifth inning with runners at first and third and no outs and Williams’ afternoon over after 84 pitches.

But without Freese (.819 OPS) and not wanting to use his next-best option (Harrison) so early in the game, Hurdle called upon Jordan Luplow.

Luplow (1-for-his-previous-15) grounded into a double play on the first pitch he saw.

Later, Elias Diaz came up with the tying run on and two outs in the seventh (Diaz singles), and with two outs in the ninth, Hurdle’s last option was Sean Rodriguez (.164 batting average), who popped out to end the game.

Freese’s absence — and the chain reaction it caused — had little to do with the struggles of Corey Dickerson when he batted with runners in scoring position. Making his first start since coming off the disabled list, Dickerson struck out with runners on second and third and one out in the third and grounded into a fielder’s choice with two on and two outs in the seventh.

“We lost by one,” Harrison said. “We were in the game, so a timely hit here or there, play here or there, that’s the difference in the series.

“We lost it — but we’re still playing good baseball.”

That despite not winning any of their past three series since an 11-game winning streak was snapped.

The Pirates managed just five hits against Jack Flaherty and four relievers to fall back into fourth place in the NL Central. They begin a nine-game roadtrip Monday in Colorado.

“I just love the fact that we are in the hunt,” Hurdle said. “Time to go. We would have loved to won more games here. We did not.”

Adam Frazier continued his scorching fortnight since being recalled from Triple-A with a double and a solo home run, but those were the lone extra-base hits for the Pirates.

Williams entered having not allowed a run in 30 days, and in the first inning, he produced the first 1-2-3 inning by a Pirates pitcher since Tuesday.

But the Cardinals bled Williams with eight singles — and a Matt Carpenter solo homer — over the next four innings.

Williams’ scoreless-innings streak made it to 21 1/3 innings — the longest active run in the majors — when it was snapped. It was the longest scoreless streak for the Pirates in three years.

It ended when Carpenter homered for the third consecutive game, a pulled line drive that cleared the Clemente Wall off a 1-2 fastball from Williams.

“It was really one slip-up,” Williams said. “That’s what it came down to today. I blinked first (between him and Flaherty), and Carpenter hit it over the wall.”

Three of the next four St. Louis batters singled, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead

“He got them to put the ball in play and forced soft contact,” Hurdle said of Williams. “Some of that soft contact found outfield grass and worked its way through, but I thought he pitched a really good ballgame.”

Facing Williams (9-8) for the fourth time this season, Flaherty (5-6) limited the Pirates to a walk, two singles and a leadoff Frazier double in the fifth.

Frazier provided the Pirates’ run via a one-out homer with nobody on in the seventh off of Chasen Shreve – the first of his 12 career major-league home runs off a lefty.

But Mike Mayers, Jordan Hicks and Bud Norris finished the game.

None of them had to face Freese, who homered three times in his past eight games but suffered his injury Friday. Hurdle said although he played (and homered) Saturday, Freese’s forearm progressively felt worse. With a long flight and a 10-day trip on the horizon, Freese said it was prudent to take the day off.

“Crazy how that can change a game,” Harrison said. “But that’s baseball , and it’s a game of adjustments and you just have to go with it.”

Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at
cadamski@tribweb.com or
via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.