KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Josh Bell hit a tape-measure home run. Ke'Bryan Hayes continued to shine. But the Pirates lost to the Royals, 4-3, on Friday at Kauffman Stadium because they made things a little too easy for Kansas City.
Pirates pitchers have improved this season, cutting their ERA from 5.18 to 4.88 entering Friday's game, but their bigger issue has been walks, specifically with the starters.
A year after averaging 3.10 walks per nine innings (13th-highest in Major League Baseball), Pirates starting pitchers came into this one averaging 4.23 walks per nine, third-worst in baseball.
Steven Brault had trouble commanding his stuff Friday and needed 97 pitches to get through four innings, generating a pitching line we've seen a little too much this season.
Brault allowed five hits, three earned runs, three walks and allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. The Royals (18-28) chewed through Brault's pitch count by being patient and attacking mistakes, the same as so many teams have done against the Pirates (14-28) this season.
It also hasn't helped that Brault himself has been inconsistent. Battling a mechanical issue from time to time, where his front side flies open early, Brault's results have been kind of a mixed bag.
The perfect three innings in Chicago. Zeroes in five of his first seven outings, but four earned runs allowed in each of the other two. Walks have been an especially large issue for Brault, who has issued 17 in 26 2/3 innings.
Team-wise, the results are hard to avoid.
Even though they've had guys working back from injury and manager Derek Shelton has had a relatively quick hook, their starting pitchers have completed six innings just four times this season, fewest in the majors. They have just two quality starts, which is also last.
And when your offense is struggling to produce, it makes for a bad recipe.
On Friday, it was a shame, because Bell's towering home run should've put the Pirates ahead. After Royals reliever Scott Barlow hit Bryan Reynolds to lead off the eighth, Bell pounced on a 1-1 fastball that was up and in.
Swinging from the left side, Bell turned on it, crushing it 426 feet with an exit velocity of 109 mph for his fifth of the season and first since Aug. 30.
The trouble for Brault started in the bottom of the first, when Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi drove a low-and-inside slider out to left for a solo home run.
It continued in the third after Brault walked Mondesi and allowed a single to catcher Salvador Perez, putting runners on the corners with one out. Third baseman Maikel Franco made it a 2-0 game with his bloop single.
After first baseman Hunter Dozier singled to load the bases, Brault spiked a fastball, the wild pitch giving Kansas City a 3-0 lead.
One bright spot for the Pirates featured Hayes, who had himself a memorable night. It started with Hayes barehanding a bunt attempt to throw out Royals right fielder Whit Merrifield, while Hayes also picked up two more hits and stole his first base at this level.
Royals starter Kris Bubic caused issues for the Pirates not with the velocity on his fastball _ it averaged just 90.5 mph _ but with its deception; though he was only making his eighth MLB start, Bubic did a terrific job adding and subtracting, keeping Pittsburgh off-balance.
The Pirates threatened in the second inning when Colin Moran walked and Bell singled with nobody out. However, the rally quickly fizzled with successive strikeouts from Jacob Stallings, Adam Frazier and Cole Tucker.
Faced with the same scenario in the fourth _ Moran at third and Bell at first with nobody out _ the Pirates cashed in on Stallings' double. The catcher did an excellent job of adjusting to Bubic's fastball, got one down and in and drove it.
Although it didn't involve a starter, another walk came back to bite the Pirates in the seventh, as Kansas City picked up an insurance run.
Chris Stratton walked the leadoff man, Mondesi. Making things worse, Mondesi took advantage of Stratton being slow to the plate and stole second and third.
That forced the Pirates to play their infield in _ down two, later innings, no double play _ and Franco smartly shot a single through the right side for a 4-1 lead.
