PITTSBURGH _ The imagery of Sunday's game told the story better than the box score: Bryce Harper holding his thumb and snapping Jung Ho Kang; Gerrit Cole with Sean Rodriguez in a bear hug, a scrum of yellow and red behind them, Andrew McCutchen turning his back and slowing as a ball rocketed over his head and into the bushes.
The final two involved the pitcher's mound. Felipe Rivero exited after allowing more earned runs in one-third of an inning (five) than he had in 25 innings since joining the Pirates (four). Two of those runs came on Jayson Werth's pinch-hit homer. Then there was former Pirate Mark Melancon, closing a 10-7 Washington Nationals victory at PNC Park that pushed the Pirates closer still to elimination from playoff contention.
Werth's homer erased a 7-5 lead and began a five-run eighth inning for the Nationals. With the loss, the Pirates fell to 77-78.
Kang planted the seed for a confrontation in the top of the third inning. Harper lined a ball into the right-field corner. Josh Bell threw the ball to no one in particular and Harper and an easy triple. With the ball bouncing into shallow left field, Kang faked a tag on Harper, causing him to slide late and awkwardly, and injure his left hand.
Harper said something to Kang, and manager Dusty Baker, who went out to third base to check on Harper, had words for the Pirates dugout. Harper scored a on the next batter, but then left the game.
Kang came to bat in the bottom of the third inning with two outs and nobody on. A.J. Cole threw the first pitch behind Kang's head in retaliation. Home plate umpire Jordan Baker immediately ejected Cole. Slowly at first, but more rapidly as Francisco Cervelli and Rodriguez got involved, the dugouts emptied.
But for a brief attempt at a fight between Rodriguez and Werth, nobody did much. Rodriguez was ejected.
The Pirates understood their infinitesimal playoff hopes and started Tyler Glasnow, partly because the Pirates felt Glasnow gave them a better chance to win, partly because they want to get him some experience before next season. In three relief appearances since joining the team as a September call-up, Glasnow allowed two runs and struck out eight in seven innings.
"Tyler learned some incredible lessons in his three or four outings in the bullpen," general manager Neal Huntington said. "The aggressiveness, simplified the approach, simplified the thought process and attack. We wanted to see how he could translate that back into the rotation."
In only three innings, Glasnow allowed four runs, three earned, and allowed seven hits. His issues controlling the running game continued: The first two batters of the game, Ben Revere and Wilmer Difo, stole three bases against him.
Glasnow and Cole combined to throw 66 pitches in a 38-minute, six-run first inning. David Freese gave the Pirates a lead in the fourth and Trevor Williams immediately surrendered it in the fifth. Kang's two-run homer in the seventh briefly put the Pirates ahead. Rivero surrendered that lead.
Seven games remain against the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. At this rate, .500 will be a stretch.
