9th inning rally falls short, as Pirates fall to lowly Rockies for 5th straight loss

If their Friday night loss to the Colorado Rockies proves anything for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it’s that playing one of MLB’s worst teams offers no antidote to their ongoing issues, namely figuring out how to emerge from a frustrating multi-week offensive slump.

The Rockies, who came to PNC Park with just two road wins on the year and seven victories in total, got a dominant start from Cal Quantrill, who kept the Pirates’ bats silent all night en route to a 3-2 Colorado win in front of 20,646 fans.

Oneil Cruz’s towering two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, one of only four Pirates (14-19) hits on the night, provided just about the only offensive excitement for the home team over the course of the game.

Pirates starter Martin Perez (1-2, 3.15 ERA) was solid for five innings but fell apart in the sixth, allowing three earned runs, including a moonshot solo homer to Ryan McMahon that, like Cruz’s missile over the Clemente Wall, made its way into the Allegheny River.

“He gave us a chance to win,” manager Derek Shelton said of Perez’s start. “You have that outing, you give us a chance to win, that’s what we’re asking for out of starters.”

Quantrill entered the day with an 0-3 record and 5.34 ERA but turned in his finest performance of the season, pitching 7 2/3 innings, allowing zero runs with three hits and nine strikeouts.

He walked none but hit Joey Bart in the eighth inning, which prompted his removal from the game but did not prevent him from picking up his first win of 2024.

“He was using all his pitches, and everything was working for him tonight,” Cruz said. “We put really good swings on him, too, but no luck. Tonight was his night. He was throwing pitches where he wanted to.”

Other than Cruz, Jared Triolo (2 for 4) and Rowdy Tellez (1 for 3) collected the Pirates’ only hits, none of which went for extra bases.

Colorado put the barrel to the ball early on Perez, but the 33-year-old managed to put out several fires, stranding men on second base in the first, third and fifth innings.

In the sixth, McMahon connected on a 1-1 changeup that left the yard for the game’s first run.

Colorado’s next batter, Elias Diaz, then doubled into the left-center field gap, with Elehuris Montero plating Diaz to give the Rockies a 2-0 lead.

Montero, who took second after Jack Suwinski tried to gun Diaz at home from right field, advanced to third on a Charlie Blackmon groundout.

Shelton pulled Perez in favor of Hunter Stratton, who was unable to retire Brendan Rogers despite getting him quickly into a 0-2 hole.

Rogers battled for a total of 12 pitches, working a full count before launching a soft broken-bat liner over Tellez’s head at first to score Montero, handing Colorado a 3-0 lead.

“I think I was attacking until that last inning, the sixth,” Perez said. “I think it was my location on the changeup against Diaz, and then against McMahon, I threw him a good breaking ball down and he was able to hit it.

“It was a good game. We’ll be ready tomorrow. That last inning was good for us. We have to start hitting more. We’re not hitting, and I know it’s not easy. I trust my teammates. It’s been hard for us over the last week, and that’s not what we want. Tomorrow is a new day. We have to continue and play better tomorrow.”

After Quantrill hit Bart, Jake Bird took the mound and walked Michael A. Taylor but Andrew McCutchen struck out swinging to end the inning.

When Bird let up the homer to Cruz, Jalen Beeks took over pitching duties and struck out Connor Joe and Triolo, ending the game and picking up the save.