PIRATES SLIDE CONTINUES WITH ANOTHER LOSS IN OAKLAND

Another loss for the Pirates on their West Coast road trip, as they fell to the A’s last night in Oakland.  Joe Block has the wrap.  (5-2 loss.)

The Bucs’ loss was their third in a row, their fourth out of five on the road trip, and their 12^th in the past 15 games.  They have fallen three games under .500 and have dropped from first to last in the NL Central thanks to the slump.  They are five games behind the first-place Brewers.

Pirates hitters are 2-for-30 with runners in scoring position on the road trip.  Manager Derek Shelton says they have to swing their way out of their doldrums.

Starter Mitch Keller was subpar again, giving up 3 runs in only five innings of work.  He says he and his Pirates teammates are not getting it done.

Second baseman Jared Triolo had one hit and a spectacular catch of a line drive that he tipped to himself.  He says the Bucs will break out soon.

The frigid Pirates bats haven’t thawed out yet.  There were no base runners after the fifth inning, and they struck out 12 times in the game, including six in a row.

The series concludes this afternoon in Oakland.  Right-hander Quinn Priester [0-1, 3.48 ERA] faces A’s righty Ross Stripling [0-5, 4.98 ERA].  Airtime is 3:10, first pitch at 3:35 on WCCS.

The Pirates have completed the JT Brubaker trade with the Yankees, acquiring minor league infielder Keiner Delgado as the player to be named later.  The 20-year-old has not played in any games yet this season after hitting .293 in the low minors last year.  He was the Yankees’ 20-rated prospect.

SKENES

Paul Skenes tossed six scoreless innings in last night’s 4-3 11-inning Indianapolis win over Buffalo.  Skenes threw 75 pitches and struck out seven.  Nick Gonzalez homered and Yasmani Grandal won the game with a walkoff single.  The bad news for the Pirates in the game was Carmen Mlodjinksi giving up a 3-run home run in the 9^th to tie the game.

ALTOONA

The Altoona Curve lost their 10^th straight game, opening their series in Harrisburg with a 3-2 defeat.   Sean Sullivan starts the second game of the series tonight.