Troubling trend
HOUSTON — The Pirates have coughed up two big innings against the Houston Astros this week, leaving them one win from being swept buy the worst team in the major leagues.
Starter Charlie Morton and the rest of the Pirates watched the Astros score six runs in the sixth inning en route to an 8-2 win on Tuesday.
Astros Rookie starter Henry Sosa allowed two hits and struck out seven over six innings, and Matt Downs got his league-leading 12th pinch-hit RBI.
Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen homered in the ninth and became the eighth player in franchise history to hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in one season. Nate McLouth did it in 2008.
That was the lone bright spot for the Pirates, who have won four of their last 14 games.
“It’s good to be able to say that I got there,” McCutchen said. “We still have a lot of ball to play, and I am just going to continue to go out there, play hard and try to finish up strong. I am not trying to set goals or anything like that. You are just setting yourself up for failure when you do that.”
The Pirates are now 11-29 overall since reaching a season-high seven games over .500 at Cincinnati on July 19.
“We’re a no-excuse ballclub, and we are just not going out there and getting the job done,” McCutchen said. “That’s it. There is no excuse. We’re just not getting it done.”
Jose Altuve homered in the fifth against Morton (9-8) to tie it 2-2 and the Astros broke loose with six runs on a season-high seven hits in the sixth inning.
Downs pinch hit for Sosa and singled to left for the go-ahead run.
Atuve added an RBI single, J.D. Martinez drove in two runs with a single, and Carlos Lee and Jimmy Paredes also had run-scoring hits in the inning.
“It was a sinker down ... and it was knee-high,” Morton said. “I wish it was in a little bit more, but at the same time, I don’t know. You look back on it and you wonder if you should have went with something off-speed.
“I wish it was another three or four inches in, but I got the ball down, which is what I was trying to do to get a double play.”
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle defended his decision to intentionally walk light-hitting Carlos Corporan to pitch to Downs.
“Lefties are hitting .375 against Charlie, and righties are hitting .213 going (into tonight’s game),” Hurdle said. “We were looking at his skill set to give up no runs. We put the left-hander on to try to get the right-hander to ground into a double play. It didn’t work.”
