PITTSBURGH — At a certain point in a season like Pirates' 2022 campaign, the losses tend to run together. Even so, the conditions that produced the Pirates' 4-3 loss Sunday to the Toronto Blue Jays were eerily similar to the previous night's.
For the second game in a row, the Pirates turned to right-handed reliever Duane Underwood Jr. in the seventh inning of a tie game — and for the second game in a row, he couldn't hang onto things.
On Saturday, walks killed him. He gave up a pair of free passes and got into multiple full counts, ultimately losing a 10-pitch battle to Bo Bichette, who hit the game-sealing, three-run double.
On Sunday, Underwood didn't struggle with command necessarily — the Blue Jays just hit him hard. Two singles to lead off the inning put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Underwood got a double play to give himself an escape route, but another single from Teoscar Hernandez drove in the runner from third.
Then, Underwood nearly gave up another few more runs. Alejandro Kirk singled after Hernandez before Bichette smoked a double to the gap in left-center. Rookie outfielder Jack Suwinski made a fantastic play, ranging all the way over and catching it on a full-stretch dive for the third out.
Suwinski just couldn't save the game with one play, but he tried to set up a comeback win in the bottom of the ninth, too. He singled to left to start a mini rally, and Cal Mitchell followed it up with a single of his own, putting runners on the corners with nobody out.
But the next three batters — Josh VanMeter, Tucupita Marcano and a pinch-hitting Kevin Newman — all struck out swinging.
With that, the Pirates fell to 49-84 with their 22nd loss in the last 28 games, their 30th loss in the 40 games since the All-Star break and the 11th time they've been swept this season.
The Pirates did show some fight in their own right in the middle innings. Right-handed starter JT Brubaker allowed one run each in the second, third and fourth innings. Just two of those were earned, as a throwing error from rookie infielder Rodolfo Castro kept the third frame going before the Blue Jays plated a run.
Brubaker hung around for 5 1/3 innings, though, striking out five before giving way to right-hander Chase De Jong in the sixth.
While the runs Brubaker did allow gave Toronto a 3-0 lead, his offense had his back — to some extent. The Pirates scored two in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from VanMeter. It was the team's first hit of the game to that point, and while it wasn't hit particularly hard, VanMeter placed it perfectly between two outfielders in left-center. With two outs and the runners moving on contact, Ben Gamel and Cal Mitchell scored easily.
Then, shortstop Oneil Cruz added another more emphatically. He got a 1-1 fastball on the outside portion of the strike zone and crushed a screaming line drive over the wall in left-center, 427 feet from home plate for his 12th homer of the season. It was also his 11th homer of the season while playing shortstop, giving him the second most among all MLB shortstops since he was called back up June 20.
But the Pirates just couldn't produce enough the rest of the game, nor could they suppress the Blue Jays enough to keep it tied.
