As if the Pirates 11-0 loss to the Dodgers last night wasn’t bad enough, the loss they suffered with the third batter of the game could be their biggest of the year.
Following back-to-back singles by Shane Victorino and Mark Ellis to leadoff the game, Matt Kemp hit a broken bat ball up the middle in which Neil Walker took it to himself at second. While he got the runner Ellis out (although he appeared to be safe), he paid the price in a big way.
Ellis upended Walker, causing the second baseman to come crashing down on his right wrist. Instantly, Walker was clenching his wrist and rolling around on the ground in agony. A silent PNC Park held their collective breath, but gave Walker a loud ovation as he was helped off the field.
The Pirates announced that Walker was diagnosed with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
“No I don’t have an update,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said about Walker’s condition. “I’m sorry.”
As of print, the Pirates nor Walker had a timetable for his return.
“I’m going to see a hand specialist tomorrow, it’s just dislocated,” Walker said. “I’ve had it before, not on the same hand but on the glove hand in 2009. I knew immediately when I hit the ground that it was dislocated and fortunately it’s no break. I’m very optimistic.”
Walker said the whole incident was different.
“It was pretty strange,” Walker said. “It was just a weird angle going across and then going back. The guy kind of clipped me in my shin and I kind of rolled forward. I was either going to face plant or get my hand in the way. As soon as I hit the ground, I knew that it was dislocated.”
Before the game, the Pirates held a players only meeting due to their recent struggles. Hurdle said that these meetings usually help, but if tonight was any indication, the meeting didn’t do much.
Needing a big start from their big trade deadline acquisition Wandy Rodriguez that they have yet to see, the Pirates and their fans were hoping tonight would be the night as they were facing the Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw. Dating back to last year, the Pirates have lost eight straight meetings with the Dodgers. After tonight, you can make that nine.
Rodriguez was hurt by a big third inning from the Dodgers as Kemp took a breaking ball down the right field line for an RBI double. Hanley Ramirez would join in on the hit parade with a double of his own to score Kemp.
Hurdle said in the fourth, it wasn’t too soon to walk Kemp, but he opted against it.
“It wasn’t too soon. It’s something we talked about when they went Kemp and Ramirez in the lineup,” Hurdle said. “He’s faced both of them similar amount of times. One of them at that point in the game was hitting closer to .200 and the other was closer to .400. Ramirez was .400, Kemp was .200. Wandy is one of the few left-handers in the National League that has had success against him (Kemp).”
“In those situations, I’m going to give my pitcher an opportunity to work towards his strengths and I felt then to walk the guy hitting .200 against him, to face the guy hitting .400 against him lifetime with the bases loaded, I wasn’t comfortable with that. It didn’t work, obviously.”
Hurdle didn’t feel that Rodriguez had his location tonight.
“That was sort of a microcosm of the game,” Hurdle said. “He got to a count that he wanted to get to and we had a pitch that we wanted to throw and we just missed our location. I think Wandy’s line showed that inconsistent location. There was an assortment of different hits, but the overall command is what was challenging to him tonight.”
Rodriguez however, felt he was making good pitches and the opposition was just connecting.
“Tonight, I threw a lot of good pitches,” Rodriguez said. “They hit the ball like a softball, base hit, base hit. They had runners on second and third, I threw a very good pitch to Kemp and he hit the ball to right field. It was bad luck.”
The damage got worse as Chris Resop, who has been solid lately, gave up four earned runs on four hits in the seventh inning to make the score 9-2.
The only runs from the Pirates tonight came on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Jones in the second and a home run to dead center by Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen’s dinger was his 24th of the year and a new single-season career high.
Clint Barmes would also drive in Travis Snider with an RBI single in the eighth.
For the Pirates, the loss puts them at 3-7 on the homestand and makes this their sixth loss in their past seven games.
Looking to continue what he’s been all season, A.J. Burnett (14-4, 3.32 ERA) will take the bump tomorrow looking to save face and prevent a four-game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. Taking the mound for the Dodgers will be the recently acquired Joe Blanton (8-10, 4.61 ERA). First pitch is at 4:05 p.m. ET.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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