After injury scare, Duane Underwood Jr. gives up homer but throws strikes in Pirates' loss

Duane Underwood Jr. was not minimizing the solo home run he surrendered to the Texas Rangers’ Josh Jung on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

The game was a lost cause at that point — top of the eighth inning of what became the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 6-1 loss to the American League West’s first-place team.

“Hanging slider,” he said with a disgusted tone. “It didn’t get there. It kind of backed up on me, ran into his barrel. He did what he’s supposed to do. The one we threw before was the executed one.”

That one was caught by Bryan Reynolds at the base of the left-field wall, 108.3 mph (per Statcast) off the bat of Adolis Garcia to open the eighth. Actually, Jong’s home run (109.6 mph) and Garcia’s long out were the hardest hit balls of the night.

Jong’s home run was his 11th of the season and the only significant blemish on Underwood’s two innings of relief work.

He was pleased with his other 21 pitches after 17 found the strike zone in his first outing since leaving the game Friday with right forearm tightness. In that game, he walked two batters in one-third of an inning.

“Overall, for the day, I know giving up a solo shot wasn’t ideal, but I felt strong, felt confident and was attacking the zone,” Underwood said. “Hey, we didn’t get the win, but for my personal gain, I was out there, went into the game, came out healthy, came out feeling strong.

“I thought (my pitches) were all pretty good. The sinker came back strong. The cutter in was great. Changeups were down, the bottom of the zone. I think I threw three curveballs and three slurvy balls. I felt like execution on all my pitches was pretty good. I gave up the home run, (but) even the hard hit by (Garcia) to the track, I wasn’t disappointed with that pitch. It was a down-and-in changeup. He got a good stick to it, and it stayed in the yard.”

Underwood’s outing was even more of a relief after the Friday scare.

“Always a little concerned, especially when it’s in that elbow area,” Underwood said before Tuesday’s game. “Elbow’s good. Everything’s good.”

He said there was no need for an MRI.

“Got my work in. Gave the body a little reset, tried to get back into good form,” he said. “I’ve had injuries in the past. Going on IL in any situation isn’t fun for you, isn’t fun for the team, isn’t fun for the organization. Anytime you can have a scare like that and feel good the next day is always a good thing.

“Kudos to all the work I’ve been putting in with the training staff in the weight room.”

With Wil Crowe on the injured list and Chase De Jong recently designated for assignment, the Pirates need Underwood to remain healthy to fortify that longer relief role.

The command of his pitches and consistency within the strike zone could have been an indicator that his ERA (5.40) and WHIP (1.50) may continue to improve.

“Throwing strikes is better than walking three guys and, then, you don’t know what to do,” he said. “If you go out there and get hit, that’s one thing, but getting out there and competing and throwing strikes and keeping everybody involved in the game, that’s what’s most important.”

Derek Shelton said he liked what he saw during those two innings.

“It’s nice to have him back,” the manager said. “He threw the one bad breaking ball that got hit out. Other than that, I thought the cutter looked pretty good.”