The beast burdened, Cole finally buckles

by • Coverage •

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Gerrit Cole finally looked human.

So, too, does the Pirates’ previously indomitable rotation.

A fifth straight disappointing start resulted in a 5-2 loss to the Reds on Wednesday at PNC Park, and this one saw the staff ace endure one of the worst outings of his career in allowing five runs and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings and a gaudy 106 pitches.

“They were selectively aggressive,” Cole said of the Cincinnati lineup. “I wouldn’t say they were guessing. But when they got a pitch they were looking for, they put good swings on the ball. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”

What is it about the Reds, against whom Cole is now 0-3 with a 5.78 ERA in five meetings?

“I couldn’t put guys away,” he said. “They’re tough. They’ve got professional hitters. Joey Votto. Todd Frazier. Marlon Byrd.”

Cole acknowledged not feeling right, either. His health was fine and his velocity was typically high. He sensed early, however, that his mechanics were out of whack, specifically that he was throwing across his body.

“I didn’t bring out a good delivery tonight,” Cole said. “My stuff was a little flat. When I needed to make pitches, I didn’t. It’s frustrating.”

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Gerrit Cole towels off in the home dugout after his worst start of the season. — JARED WICKERHAM / GETTY

Cole knew the Pirates’ bullpen had been overworked because of the rough weekend in Washington and Jeff Locke’s brief start Tuesday. He wanted to be his team’s stopper. Instead, he allowed more than three earned runs in a game for the first time all season.

In fact, he allowed four before he had recorded three outs.

“They did a hell of a job of picking me up,” Cole said of the scoreless relief by Jared Hughes, newcomer Chris Volstad and Antonio Bastardo. “I knew they had been (overworked). That’s why it’s especially disappointing.”

Cole’s ERA rose from 1.78 to 2.16.

Byrd’s two-run home run gave the Reds a 4-0 lead in the first. Frazier and Jay Bruce also contributed run-scoring hits.

“Take a random survey of pitchers who have pitched well,” Clint Hurdle said. “They give up runs. Those other guys get paid over there. They drive nice cars. That’s a veteran lineup. He did the best with what he had tonight.”

Cole was accountable for the loss and didn’t seem rattled by it.

“It boils down to me not executing pitches,” he said. “I was flat today. It happens.”

• Hughes has become a rubber-armed workhorse for Hurdle. He has made 35 appearances, the fourth most in all of baseball, and added 1 1/3 innings Wednesday with two strikeouts, including a big one of Eugenio Suarez to escape a jam in the fifth.

Opponents are hitting .289 against Hughes, but that number represents a sharp drop from earlier in the season. He has walked only six batters in 30 2/3 innings and, while still primarily a ground-ball pitcher, has struck out 25.

He sounds like he’s feeling good about himself and his workout routine:

• Chris Stewart, who has emerged as Cole’s personal catcher, took the loss especially hard.

The game was lost in the first inning, when the Reds scored four times. Given that Cole struck out the No. 2 hitter, Ivan De Jesus, and the No. 3 hitter, Votto, that inning, it would have been a fairly simple first inning for Cole if not for Billy Hamilton stealing second and third.

“If I could throw anyone out, it would have been a different story out there,” Stewart said.

Hamilton isn’t just anyone.

“He’s just faster than anyone else,” Stewart acknowledged.

Stewart actually did have an excellent chance to throw out Hamilton at third. Hamilton didn’t get a good jump and a strong, low throw almost certainly would have nailed him. Instead, the throw sailed.

“I know if I have a good pitch to throw on, I can throw anyone out,” Stewart said. “It’s a matter of executing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make good throws tonight.”

It goes without saying that the Reds are a significantly different team when Hamilton gets on base. He entered the game with a .226 batting average but made his presence felt early.

“It’s not fun,” Cole said of dealing with Hamilton.

• The Reds aren’t an especially good team, but they are uniquely talented. They have baseball’s fastest player and its hardest-throwing player in Aroldis Chapman, who will be available for the series finale Thursday after a brief paternity leave.

And then there is Todd Frazier, the man who owns the Pirates. And PNC Park. And Pittsburgh.

Frazier did it again Wednesday, even if it was subtle: With the runner at third and two outs in the first, Cole threw him a slider that Stewart said blew him away with its movement, but Frazier still sliced it into right for an RBI single.

Check out Stewart’s assessment of the Cincinnati lineup: “They’re veteran guys. They work the count. Votto, it seems like he fouls off balls just to push up the pitch count.”

Frazier would finish this game 1 for 5, but he’s still batting .357 — 10 for 28 — with four home runs against the Pirates this season. He has 12 home runs against them over the past three seasons, four more than he has against any other opponent.

“Frazier is the wild card,” Stewart said. “You never know what he’ll do. He hit an absolutely incredible slider. I have no idea how he hit it, but he did.”

The ball Frazier hit was hardly a rocket. It almost hung up long enough for Gregory Polanco to retrieve it. Had he taken a better angle on the ball, he may have caught it.

“That was a pretty darn good pitch,” Hurdle said. “We lay out for it and don’t come up with it.”

• It almost happened again to Polanco. He was called out twice Tuesday for oversliding a base, and the Reds called for a review of his slide in the seventh inning of this one.

Polanco was called safe, but was he?

The replay indicated that his body came off second base for a moment, though it was difficult to determine if he was being tagged at the precise moment of his leg moving.

Polanco is a sensational talent but in some ways is a microcosm of his team. There is so much talent, but sometimes the little things turn into big things. At the same time, the only choice for management is to be patient. Polanco is going through growing pains, quite typical of a young player at this level.