Archer Hit Hard, Pirates Drop Sixth Straight

The Dodgers got to Chris Archer and the Pirates dropped their sixth straight, losing in L.A. Friday night 6-2.

It looked like Archer (1-2) had his good stuff early, getting two ground outs on his first three pitches thrown. That quickly changed later in the first when he was tagged for a two run home run by Cody Bellinger, followed by an Austin Barnes dinger in the second.

In total, he finished with six runs allowed in four innings pitched, surrendering six hits and three walks. He struck out three.

The Pirates created scoring chances against Hyun-Jin Ryu early, but were only able to get a first inning run off a Gregory Polanco double-play with runners on the corners. Josh Bell added a solo shot to center to lead off the fourth inning and pull the Pirates back to within 3-2.

After that hit, the Pirates were only able to muster three singles the rest of the night. Ryu (3-1) would go seven innings, striking out 10.

The Pirates fall to 12-12 on the year.

On Deck

It’s game two in L.A. Saturday night. Joe Musgrove (1-1, 1.59) will try to get the Pirates back over .500 against Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 2.77). First pitch is at 9:10 p.m. Eastern Time.

NUMB3RS

1. Bell’s home run was the sixth of the season for him, achieving that mark in his 97th plate appearance of the year. He hit his sixth home run last year in his 394th PA.

2. Felipe Vazquez pitched a scoreless eighth. He has gone 15 straight appearances without allowing an earned run, dating back to 2018.

3. The Bellinger home run came on an Archer changeup. It was the first extra-base hit he allowed with the pitch this year. Batters are hitting .188 against it (3-16).