KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ After the 2018 season, when the Pirates finished three games over .500, Trevor Williams was considered a reason for optimism and a future piece of the starting rotation, the result of his tremendous second half.
Williams had a 1.38 ERA in 12 starts, winning seven. Only Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (1.17 ERA) was better.
Things are a little different for Williams now after the Pirates' 7-4 loss to the Royals on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium. It was his seventh loss in eight decisions, while the right-hander's ERA has ballooned to 6.35.
Williams also allowed two more home runs, bringing his total for the season to 12, including nine over his past four starts. Two pitchers in all of baseball have given up more in 2020.
So what to do with Williams? It's a good question and one the Pirates must answer soon, as he figures to be a discussion point this offseason. Well-liked by pretty much everyone associated with the Pirates, the preferred solution here is to help Williams pitch better.
If he stays, great. If someone makes an offer, that's fine, too. But nobody can afford to continually start someone whose ERA is over 6, especially not a team with limited offense like the Pirates.
Even though he struggled, the Pirates were in the game midway through, until a mistake from Williams contributed to a three-run fifth for Kansas City, which took a 6-3 lead.
The Royals scored one when shortstop Adalberto Mondesi singled and (easily) stole second base; although Mondesi endured an early-season hitting slump, it was his MLB-leading 16th steal. Mondesi scored on a single from catcher Salvador Perez.
The defensive miscue produced the second run, as Williams' errant, backhanded flip of a dribbler hit by left fielder Alex Gordon sailed way out of Jacob Stallings' reach, allowing Perez to score.
Williams screamed in frustration. The runners advanced 90 feet. After a walk issued to third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, a sacrifice fly from center fielder Edward Olivares gave the Royals their third run of the inning.
In a season full of them, this was another frustrating start for Williams, who dropped to 1-7. The right-hander now has a 6.35 ERA after allowing six earned runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings.
The teams combined for five home runs early, four of them solo shots, as they played to a 3-3 tie. The barrage started with a shot to left from the Royals leadoff man, Whit Merrifield, as he jumped all over an elevated fastball from Williams.
The Pirates answered with two of their own in the top of the second. Josh Bell got the first as he rode an elevated sinker from Royals starter Carlos Hernandez the opposite way, his second in as many games and sixth on the season.
Reynolds followed by clobbering a full-count curveball _ that Hernandez hung _ 421 feet to center field for just his second homer in 17 games before Adam Frazier turned around a sinker, lining it over the right-field fence at 107.5 mph for a 3-1 Pirates lead.
The long ball continued an important offensive uptick from Frazier, who was hitting .191 on Aug. 28 but has since collected hits in 13 of his past 14 games, raising his average to .237. That stretch has included mostly singles, but Frazier has seemingly found a groove, something that could allow the Pirates to revisit a trade with him this offseason.
The lead didn't last long, however, as Mondesi homered for the third consecutive game, this one on a fastball that Williams actually kept at the bottom of the zone, the two-run shot tying the game at 3.
One positive pitching performance for the Pirates succeeded Williams: Austin Davis, the 27-year-old lefty they got from the Phillies for cash and a player to be named later making his Pittsburgh debut by working a 1-2-3 sixth.
Davis has racked up plenty of strikeouts _ 64 in 58 1/3 major league innings _ but he's also struggled with control and making too many mistakes, as evidenced by his 5.86 career ERA.
If the Pirates are able to help Davis get right, they could have a solid relief option, someone with a strong fastball as well as a few above-average secondary pitches.
The Royals tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, taking advantage of a Pirates reliever who has struggled. Kyle Crick, whose fastball velocity continues to drag, walked in a run to make it a 7-3 game.
Pittsburgh answered in the eighth, as Erik Gonzalez doubled, stole third and scored on Frazier's grounder to second.
