The Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates continued their three-game series at beautiful PNC Park in Pittsburgh this afternoon. Luis Morales took the mound for the A’s against Bubba Chandler for the Bucs.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Nick Yorke hit his first homer of the season to left field. In the bottom of the third, Bryan Reynolds homered on a fly ball to right center field.
Bubba Chandler kept the A’s hitters completely off balance. Through five innings the A’s have mustered just one hit, have not drawn a walk and have struck out six times. In the top of the sixth, Chandler was pulled and replaced by Braxton Ashcraft. I’m sure the A’s hitters were not upset to see that change! Although he was equally effective in keeping the bats silent.
Tyler Ferguson replaced Morales in the bottom of the seventh. Morales logged a quality start even if he is in line for the loss. His final line was six full innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits, and two walks He struck out four. Ferguson tossed a 1-2-3 inning. The A’s still trailed 2-0 headed to the top of the eighth inning. Ashcraft has breezed through the A’s lineup almost as easily as Chandler.
Brady Basso replaced Ferguson for the bottom of the eighth. The A’s went down weakly in the ninth. The A’s only managed one hit and struck out thirteen times in the 2-0 loss.
