Offense was supposed to be the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bugaboo, but their opponent the next four games is giving them a good run — so to speak — at that role.
The Cincinnati Reds are coming off a 1-0 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Going into their game Thursday at Pittsburgh, the Reds are batting just .167 through their first five games and their 11 total runs are the lowest in baseball.
Against the Brewers, the failure to get a run Wednesday helped ruin a strong start by Luis Castillo, who struck out nine in seven innings.
“It’s one of those things where you want to get a hit for him. You want to make a play for him,” said Cincinnati outfielder Jesse Winker. “[The pitchers] are keeping us in the game, all of them. It’s been fun to play behind, but we just need to do our job now.”
Reds pitchers have a collective 3.00 ERA. Among the molasses starts at the plate: Winker is 0-for-13, Scott Schebler is 0-for-17, Matt Kemp is 1-for-12 and Yasiel Puig is 3-for-16.
Cincinnati has been shut out twice, and the team’s best day on offense was its season opener, a 5-3 win against the Pirates. The teams split an opening series that was shortened to two games by rain.
Pittsburgh has fared better at the plate, mustering 17 runs in four games, including a 5-4, 10-inning loss Wednesday against St. Louis. The Pirates’ bigger problem has been the bullpen. They have held the lead in every game but have won just one.
“When the guys come in and get outs, it always looks good; when they don’t, it doesn’t look good,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said, putting the onus on himself for his in-game pitching decisions.
In Thursday’s series opener, Cincinnati’s Tyler Mahle (7-9, 4.98 ERA in 2018) is scheduled to face Pittsburgh’s Jordan Lyles (3-4, 4.11 ERA in 2018) in a matchup of right-handers who won their team’s fifth starter spot and will be making their season debuts.
Reds manager David Bell toyed with the idea of starting the season with a four-man rotation, but changed his mind in late March partly because Mahle had a strong spring saying, “(it’s) the way he’s pitching and how we feel about Tyler and our confidence in putting him in that situation.”
Mahle ranked high statistically among National League rookies before he was optioned to Triple-A Louisville Aug. 3.
After he returned to the Reds on Sept. 4, he had right shoulder fatigue and made just one start. He hasn’t had great success against the Pirates, going 0-3 with a 5.91 ERA in four starts.
Lyles, likewise, won his team’s fifth starter role in the spring, but has been dealing with a side injury. He is expected to come off the injured list to start Thursday.
Lyles was signed as a free agent in December after splitting last season between San Diego and Milwaukee. He didn’t give up a run over his final eight appearances, all out of the bullpen, covering 10 1/3 innings last year.
“I felt the confidence over the offseason,” Lyles told the Sarasota Herald Tribune. “The results showed the direction I was going. I had a really positive offseason knowing that is the type of pitcher I can be.”
He is 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA in 14 career appearances, half of them starts, against the Reds.