Thanks to persistent inclement weather and air quality concerns, the Pittsburgh Pirates have played doubleheaders in three consecutive series.
The Pirates swept the Milwaukee Brewers on July 11 and split two games with the Cleveland Guardians a week later.
After winning Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader vs. the New York Yankees, the Pirates were shut out 2-0 in a pitchers’ duel between Max Fried and Bubba Chandler at Yankee Stadium.
Following both starters’ departure, the Yankees broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh, as Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe hit RBI singles against Brandon Eisert, shortly after he replaced Chandler on the hill.
Eisert (2-2, 6.68 ERA) was the losing pitcher, and Chandler (4.47 ERA) and Fried (2.97 ERA) took no-decisions.
“Any time you lose, it’s frustrating to talk positives after a loss,” manager Don Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “But to come to Yankee Stadium, on a road trip, to finish 3-3 against (the Guardians and Yankees), the doubleheader, I thought we played pretty well today.”
Trailing 2-0 entering the eighth, the Pirates went down in order.
With the Pirates down to their final three outs in the ninth and Will Warren pitching, Nick Gonzales got aboard with a leadoff single, and Esmerlyn Valdez walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
At that point, Yankees manager Aaron Boone replaced Warren with Tim Hill to face Ryan O’Hearn, and in just three pitches, Hill ended the game with a groundout.
The Pirates challenged a close play at first base but were unsuccessful.
“That’s a tough one right there,” Kelly said. “O’Hearn got down there, busted it and I think that (the review) said that the call stands. For them to say the call stands, it didn’t have good enough evidence to overturn it. Personally, I thought (O’Hearn) beat it.”
In Game 2, the Pirates (53-50) finished with only three hits.
Fried, fresh off the injured list and making his first start since May 13, was lights-out over five innings, limiting the Pirates to one hit and a walk while striking out seven.
Chandler matched his season-high with 6 1/3 innings pitched, allowing only two hits with a walk and five strikeouts in one of his best starts as a big-leaguer.
The pitching duel between Chandler and Fried began early, with neither the Yankees (57-45) nor Pirates generating much offense.
Gonzales was thrown out at second in the first inning trying to stretch a leadoff hit into a double, while Chandler worked around a two-out Cody Bellinger double in the fourth.
Fried’s evening ended after five frames and 57 pitches, with Angel Chivilli succeeding him and pitching a scoreless sixth.
Chandler stayed on for the sixth, pitching a scoreless frame.
“It was good,” Chandler said of his start. “I think the first two innings, with the All-Star break, felt a little rusty. Couldn’t really find the release point with anything but settled in after that and had a good day.”
The Pirates got their best offensive opportunity in the seventh, when Jared Triolo singled, stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by catcher Ali Sanchez.
But with one out and a man on third, O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna struck out.
The Pirates won Game 1 on Wednesday afternoon in extra innings, 5-3.
Triolo and Jake Mangum broke a 3-3 tie in the 10th inning with RBI singles, elevating the Pirates over former Bucs Gerrit Cole and David Bednar, who both pitched for the Yankees.
Mitch Keller delivered five scoreless innings in Game 1, his first such effort since early April, taking a no-decision like Cole.
Jacob Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off Cole, and Gonzales followed with a solo shot to put the Pirates up 3-0, but Carmen Mlodzinski coughed up the lead in the seventh, as Ben Rice launched a three-run blast into the right-field stands.
