KANSAS CITY, Mo. — June could not arrive soon enough for the Pirates. After finishing April at 12-13, they endured an awful May, dropping 20 of their 28 games after Monday’s 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
While the Pirates had a hard time finding consistent offense, the injuries were plentiful, consuming not only their best player in Ke’Bryan Hayes (out since the second game of the season) but also two members of their starting rotation and another one of their biggest offensive contributors in Colin Moran.
Without Hayes and Moran, the Pirates scored more than two runs just 13 times and finished last or darn close in most major offensive categories. They had a 20-1 loss, another that will be forever remembered by Will Craig’s incredible brain camp and a four-game series in Atlanta that felt more like batting practice, the Braves hitting a record 15 home runs. Meanwhile, the Pirates’ list of transactions grew and grew, encompassing nearly five dozen entries.
The good news is that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Prior to Monday’s game, Ke’Bryan Hayes took ground balls and worked out with teammates, his rehab stint apparently over. The rookie third baseman is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Thursday — and more than likely will.
Another big story was the return of Chad Kuhl, the Pirates’ opening day starter. Although Kuhl only lasted four innings, there were some encouraging signs: His fastball touched 97, and his slider at times was very good. Overall the start was a decent first one back for Kuhl, who last pitched on April 18 in Milwaukee before going on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort.
The mark against Kuhl Monday was that his fastball command came and went.
As a result, Kuhl wound up ditching the pitch and leaning more on his slider, which he threw 57% of the time among his 75 pitches. It was also what he used to finish off all five of his strikeouts. Kuhl wound up throwing his sinker 27% and his curveball 16%.
The Royals totaled just three hard-hit balls (exit velocity or 95 mph or more) off Kuhl, who was able to generate 14 whiffs in four innings, 12 via the slider. Kuhl allowed three earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts.
Nobody in the National League had more hits than Adam Frazier (40) in May. Nobody in the league has more hits than the Pirates second baseman this season (69). In his final game of the month, Frazier led off with a double into the right-field corner, moving him into a first-place tie in that category with St. Louis Nolan Arenado.
After Frazier took third on Kevin Newman’s deep fly out to left field, he scored on a Bryan Reynolds ground out to first.
The Pirates’ lead didn’t last long, though, as the Royals answered with a run of their own in the bottom half, the rally starting with another leadoff double.
Second baseman Whit Merrifield ripped sinker to right, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a two-strike single from catcher Salvador Perez, the finding a narrow hole between Cole Tucker at shortstop and Newman at second base.
Kansas City added to its lead in the second inning when designated hitter Hunter Dozier doubled on a hanging slider to score right fielder Edward Olivares, who reached base when Kuhl plunked him with a sinker. Third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez then fisted an inside fastball the other way, scoring Dozier.
The Pirates answered the following inning thanks to a two-out, bloop single from Jacob Stallings, who entered the game 5 for 13 (.385) in his last four interleague contests.
While Kuhl left some pitches up in the zone — Perez got an elevated sinker, while the Dozier slider didn’t do much — he also had periods where he showed terrific command, especially of the slider. All five of his strikeouts came that way, including two when facing power-hitting first baseman Carlos Santana.
After throwing 50 pitches through the first two innings, Kuhl settled down in the third and fourth. A liner he snared off the bat of Olivares turned into a double play before Kuhl retired the side in order the next inning.
With Kuhl having reached his pitch limit, manager Derek Shelton turned things over to Duane Underwood Jr., who left a curveball up in the zone to shortstop Adalberto Mondesi and paid the price. Mondesi crushed a two-run homer to right, the ball leaving his bat at 109.8 mph.
Pittsburgh’s third run came on a solo homer from Reynolds in the eighth, the center fielder crushing a fastball middle-out over the center-field wall. But the Royals added two more in the bottom half when Gutierrez beat out a double play, allowing a run to score, and center fielder Michael A. Taylor doubled.
The Pirates are now 5-4 against American League teams this season. They’ve lost six in a row at Kauffman Stadium.
