Pirates drop opener to Tigers 5-3

It was a wet, soggy night in the ‘Burgh, with a rain delay as thunderstorms rolled through the area, so the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers got a late start on Tuesday night’s series opener after a two-hour delay. Unfortunately, the Pirates fell to Detroit 5-3.

The Bucco bats were mostly left inside after the delay. Despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Yu Chang double that scored Cal Mitchell, the Buccos only snagged six total hits on the night off of Tigers starter Tarik Skubal, who worked seven strong innings and fanned nine Buccos.

After a rough fourth inning for Pirates starter Jose Quintana, one of the few rough spots of the year so far for him, the Bucs were suddenly down 4-1. Quintana went just three and a third, giving up four runs on seven hits with one walk. He struck out five, but it was a short night for Quintana.

Despite that, the Pirates stayed in the game with a big night from Mitchell, who came through with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-3. Mitchell finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.

But with Skubal fanning Pirates left and right, the Bucs would get no closer despite the Pittsburgh bullpen scattering just four hits the rest of the way and giving up just one more run to Detroit off of a Tucker Barnhart double in the eighth off of Duane Underwood Jr.

Jack Suwinski struck out with two on and two outs in the fifth, and Bryan Reynolds lined into a double play in the eighth, with Ke’Bryan Hayes out at first following the liner, to end the only real Pirate threats for the remainder of the night, and there’s your final.

Mitchell was the only multi-hit Bucco, and Quintana took the loss for Pittsburgh to fall to 1-3 on the year despite his 2.85 ERA. Travis Swaggerty went 0-for-3 in his first Major League action.

The Bucs are back at it today with the Tigers in a 12:35 start.