Pirates drop first game of Tigers doubleheader 3-2

As Pirates play-by-play guy Greg Brown remarked, this one hurt.

After gaining a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning, two Bucs errors, one by someone from whom such behavior is not expected, cost them not only the lead, but the win, as the Detroit Tigers gained the 3-2 victory at Comerica Field.

Before we dive into the AUUUGHH, let’s look at the WOO HOO of the game, namely starter Dillon Peters, who has yet to give up a run this year. Let’s also mention that he’s gone 16.2 innings and has only dealt up two hits. One of them was in this game, a single by Willi Castro in the second inning. He went 3.1 innings with that hit, a walk, and four strikeouts. If this was his audition for a starting role, he’s going to get called back.

Tigers starter Michael Pineda was also pitching well, but then came the fifth inning. After Jack Suwinski grounded out to Javier Baez, the current bane of the BD Commentariat’s existence, Cole Tucker, singled, as did Andrew Knapp. That was enough for A.J. Hinch, who yanked Pineda in favor of Alex Lange. Ben Gamel, who also warrants a bit of woo-hooing these days, promptly tripled and brought both Tucker and Knapp home for a 2-0 Pirates lead.

Bryse Wilson had relieved Peters in the fourth, but the bottom of the fifth proved to be the Bucs’ Waterloo. After a Jeimer Candelario double, Castro got on base courtesy of a Tucker error. Wilson walked Akil Baddoo to load the bases, then Robbie Grossman’s sac fly scored Candelario. Baez then hit one at Ke’Bryan Hayes, who bobbled it badly enough to allow Castro and Sweet Baddoo (sorry, I was thinking that all game) to score and take the Tigers ahead 3-2.

That was it for offense for both teams. There were only eight hits total in the game, with the Bucs getting five of them. Other than the fifth, Wilson pitched well, as did Wil Crowe to finish things up. Bryan Reynolds got the only other hit to raise his batting average to a hefty .205.

It’s still early May and way too early to hit the panic button. It’s just annoying to see yet another good pitching performance go up in smoke with dumb errors.

And sorry, Tucker haters, Ke’Bryan’s was the worst of the two.