PITTSBURGH _ Chad Kuhl's portion of Saturday's game ended with him having thrown only 75 pitches. He had not walked a batter, nor had he struck one out. He made, essentially, one mistake, on a low fastball that Miami Marlins first baseman Xavier Scruggs lined to left for a two-run home run. But Kuhl was due to lead off the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates, unable to touch Marlins starter David Phelps, required offense.
They wouldn't get it. Phelps and the Marlins shut down the Pirates, 3-1, at PNC Park and took the first two games of the weekend series. They also vaulted the Pirates (62-58) in the NL wild-card race.
Phelps permitted nothing. He gave up a leadoff single to Josh Harrison, then erased him on a double play and faced the minimum until there were two outs in the fifth. At that point John Jaso worked an eight-pitch walk, and Francisco Cervelli walked to give the Pirates their first runner in scoring position. Both were stranded. So was Harrison, who doubled in the following inning.
In six scoreless innings, Phelps (7-6) struck out nine batters and allowed two hits.
The Pirates struck out 14 times. They didn't score until the eighth, when Harrison's third hit of the game brought home Jordy Mercer.
After Kuhl's third major league start, during which he allowed four runs and seven hits in 21/3 innings and raised his ERA to 6.08, he had a "black and white" conversation with manager Clint Hurdle.
"He said, 'I've got to throw it lower,'" Hurdle said. "That sounds really simplistic, but the point being, at the end of the day you can talk about a lot of things. He needs to throw it lower."
Through his first three starts, Kuhl recorded 17 ground-ball outs and 32 fly-ball outs, an alarming ratio for a sinkerballer. Opposing batters hit .394 with a .727 slugging percentage against the sinker. In his past four starts, that ratio equaled at 32 and 32; in three starts prior to Saturday night, opponents hit .235 with a .294 slugging percentage against the sinker.
"The adrenaline was ramped up, too, which was something that most young pitchers have to face," Hurdle said. "Especially if it's a touch-and-feel guys with a command pitch like a sinker that's got some bottom to it and some spin. You get over-amped, you throw right through the sink. That's really what happened to him, I believe, the first three starts."
Kuhl has a 2.25 ERA in his past four outings and a 3.00 ERA in three starts since his most recent promotion.
Kuhl allowed an unearned run in the third inning when, after singles by Miguel Rojas and Phelps, Andrew McCutchen dropped a fly ball in the gap he had reached easily. With runners on the corners and one out, Kuhl ended the inning by starting a 1-6-3 double play.
The following inning, Scruggs hit his first major league home run and the Marlins led 3-0. Kuhl retired the final seven batters he faced.
