Pirates' hitting woes continue in 5-2 loss to A's

Numbers painted a sorry picture Tuesday night for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Oakland Coliseum, and the result was another loss, 5-2 to the A’s.

It was the third in a row, fourth in five games on the current West Coast road trip and 12th in the past 15.

But the most distressing statistic in manager Derek Shelton’s mind defines how it’s happening. The Pirates (14-17) are 2 for 30 with runners in scoring position in the past five games against the San Francisco Giants and A’s.

“We’re still not finding that big hit,” Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “We just have to get going.”

He refused to blame pitcher Mitch Keller, who allowed three runs, but at least kept the game close while crafting an MLB-high 38th consecutive start of five innings or longer. Keller gave up five hits, two walks and a hit batter, but he needed 96 pitches to get through his five innings.

“He kept us in the game. This (loss) didn’t have anything to do with our pitching,” Shelton said. “We’ve got to create more run-scoring opportunities.”

Keller (2-3) stepped up and accepted his share of the blame, however, after his season-long ERA climbed to 5.18.

“Frustrating again,” he said of his outing.

Three of his five innings were hitless and scoreless, but he gave up two runs on four hits in the second and the first of J.J. Bleday’s two home runs in the fifth. Bleday’s second homer was a two-run shot against relief pitcher Josh Fleming in the seventh.

Keller said he worked at a quicker pace in his final three innings, shutting down the A’s — with the exception of Bleday’s home run — with four of his seven strikeouts.

“Getting the pitches in, rolling, not really thinking too much and let it rip,” he said. “Good things happen when I do that. Just take that into the next start.”

While cleanup hitter Andrew McCutchen struck out twice, was 0 for 3 and watched his batting average dip to .190, the Pirates never had more than one hit in any inning and had a total of five after getting only two in a 5-1 loss Monday night.

They were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven base runners.

Stranding runners was not a problem in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings when the Pirates were 12 up and 12 down, including six consecutive strikeouts — among a total of 12 — to end the game. The A’s Mason Miller, a Bethel Park graduate, recorded his eighth save by pitching the ninth.

Pirates batters lead the National League with 295 strikeouts in 31 games, an average of 9.5 per game.

Shelton said the team “had better swings” than in recent games. But they ended the game making 15 outs in the final 15 plate appearances after Conner Joe’s infield single to start the fifth. Only three balls reached the outfield in the Pirates’ final five innings.

In the first inning, Joe gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with his third home run of the season, but it didn’t last long.

Keller surrendered four hits in the second — a double by Shea Langeliers and three singles — that led to two runs.

The Pirates played small ball to tie the score, 2-2, in the fourth, but it cost them two outs. After Jared Triolo singled and moved to second on a walk to Michael A. Taylor (who forced 10 pitches from starter Alex Wood), Alika Williams put down a sacrifice bunt and Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Triolo.

The fourth was a big inning for Triolo who singled, scored and recorded an acrobatic out at second base when he deflected a line drive by Darell Hernaiz into the air and dived — full-length — to secure the baseball in his glove before it hit the ground.

But another runner was stranded in scoring position when Bryan Reynolds lined out to shortstop with Taylor on third base. Reynolds’ batting average fell to .248.

The A’s (14-17) broke the tie in the fifth on Bleday’s second home run of the season. He also homered against Fleming in the seventh inning — a 417-foot, two-run shot to center field.

Keller tried to remain encouraged.

“I just think you go through rough patches,” he said. “We’re obviously in one right now. We just have to keep showing up every day and playing our best. Hopefully, the ball will fall our way sometime here soon. Just getting some tough breaks.

“If I limit the damage and don’t give up a homer, we’re winning, 2-1. Part of it’s on me. Part of it’s on everybody else in this room. We’re all a collective unit.

“I don’t think it’s weighing on us. As soon as you start letting it weigh on you, it’s going to get worse. You have to shower it off, figuratively and literally, and get at it again (Wednesday).”