Reese Olson not sharp enough in Detroit Tigers' third straight loss, 7-4 at Pittsburgh Pirates
PITTSBURGH — It was a day to remember for solar eclipse fans but a night to forget for the Detroit Tigers.
Reese Olson, a right-hander making his second start of the season, struggled to command his pitches, especially his fastballs. He gave up too many hard hits, walked too many batters and allowed too many runs.
The Tigers lost, 7-4, to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Monday in the first of two games in the series. The Tigers (6-4) have lost three games in a row, including back-to-back losses to the Oakland Athletics before traveling to Pittsburgh.
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Olson was chased from his start in the fifth inning.
He looked outstanding in the first inning, retiring all three batters — Oneil Cruz (strikeout), Bryan Reynolds (groundout) and Ke'Bryan Hayes (strikeout) — on 11 pitches.
Olson then had a nightmare of second inning and needing 31 pitches to record three outs. The trouble began with a five-pitch walk and continued with a two hard-hit singles and two infield singles for a three-run swing. The infield singles were soft contact, and one of the hard-hit singles bounced off second base and jumped into center field.
There was some bad luck involved.
But the Pirates took a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates stayed on the aggressive and took advantage of mistakes from Olson, who either couldn't throw strikes or threw pitches in the middle of the zone. He gave up two more runs in the third inning, making it 5-1.
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His fastball and sinker combined for two of his nine whiffs and three of his 17 called strikes. He leaned heavily on his solid slider, but the fastball-sinker combination was bad.
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Olson limited the additional damage to one run in the fifth inning, but he couldn't complete the fifth frame. He gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts across 4⅓ innings, throwing 53 of 89 pitches for strikes.
The Pirates averaged a 92 mph exit velocity on 19 balls in play.
After Olson's departure, Reynolds blasted a solo home run off a middle-in sinker from left-handed reliever Tyler Holton. He punished the ball with a 108.4 mph exit velocity.
Just like that, the Pirates took a 7-2 lead over the Tigers.
Mitch Keller clamps down on Tigers' offense
In the beginning, the Tigers put Olson in the driver's seat with a run in the first inning.
Parker Meadows, the leadoff hitter, worked a six-pitch walk against right-hander Mitch Keller. He stole second base, and Spencer Torkelson drew a four-pitch walk.
With two outs, Colt Keith delivered for the Tigers with a line-drive single to left field. Meadows scored from second base for a 1-0 lead, but Torkelson was thrown out trying to advance from first base to third base after the left fielder didn't pick up the ball cleanly.
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After that, Keller locked in and carved up his opponents.
He allowed two runs on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts across six innings, throwing 60 of 98 pitches for strikes. He generated 12 whiffs (on 35 swings) with five sinkers, two fastballs, two curveballs, two sweepers and one cutter.
The Tigers scored their second run in the fourth inning on Zach McKinstry's sacrifice fly.
Wenceel Pérez, an outfield prospect making his MLB debut, lined out to right field in the first plate appearance of his big-league career. He entered as a pinch-hitter for McKinstry in the seventh inning against left-handed reliever Josh Fleming.
The ball in play from Pérez had a .750 expected batting average, but it was hit directly at the right fielder.
Javier Báez, Wenceel Pérez
The Tigers loaded the bases in the eighth inning: Riley Greene (fielding error), Mark Canha (walk) and Keith (infield single). Another infield single, this time from Matt Vierling, cut the Tigers' deficit to 7-3.
That brought Javier Báez to the plate with one out and the bases loaded in the eighth.
The Pirates turned to left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman.
He struck out Báez swinging with a 100.9 mph sinker, and then he struck out Pérez looking with a 101.2 mph sinker. Both pitches were painted on the corners of the strike zone.
Chapman threw all seven pitches for strikes.
The Tigers trimmed the margin to 7-4 in the ninth inning on Greene's RBI double off the walk in left field.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Reese Olson not sharp enough in Detroit Tigers' third straight loss
