PITTSBURGH — If there was a bright spot to the Pittsburgh Pirates getting shut out for the second straight night on Wednesday, it was that left fielder Starling Marte did not look completely lost at the plate.
Marte went 0-for-3 as the Pirates lost 1-0 to the Detroit Tigers and were held to two hits by Alfredo Simon and Joakim Soria. That dropped his batting average to .103, but he put the ball in play in all three plate appearances after having struck out 14 times in his first 26 at-bats of the season.
“I felt a lot more comfortable,” Marte said. “I didn’t swing at bad pitches or pitches I couldn’t handle. I’ve been putting in a lot of work in the (batting) cages and it is starting to pay off. I felt a lot more comfort tonight.”
He had a chance to break a scoreless tie with two outs in the fourth inning when center fielder Andrew McCutchen and second baseman Neil Walker hit back-to-back singles off Simon with two outs for what turned out to be all the Pirates’ hits.
However, Marte grounded into a forceout.
That began a streak of 13 Pirates in a row set down by Simon to finish his outing, a night after right-hander Shane Greene and Soria combined on a three-hitter.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was particularly happy that there were a total of 14 pitches in Marte’s three plate appearances. However, Marte said that doesn’t mean he is suddenly going to transform from a free swinger into a hitter who works deep counts.
“I’m getting a little more patient but you can’t always be patient,” he said. “It depends on the pitcher. Some guys throw a lot of strikes and you’ve got to be ready to swing early in the count.”