Juice from 2 rookies not enough in Pirates' 3-2 loss to Nationals

Rookies Oneil Cruz and Miguel Yajure, players who could be a big part of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ future, tried to take care of the present Monday night at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

But they needed help the rest of the team couldn’t provide.

After Yajure and Cruz put the Pirates (29-44) in position to snap a three-game losing streak, Maikel Franco hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning off veteran relief pitcher Chris Stratton to lead the Washington Nationals (28-48) to a 3-2 victory.

Stratton’s outing was the first time since April 30 that he was asked to work two innings. Manager Derek Shelton said regular high-leverage reliever David Bednar was not available in that specific situation, and the plan was for Stratton to pitch two innings.

“He threw him a hanging breaking ball. In that situation, we have to execute a pitch and we did not,” Shelton said.

The game was the Pirates’ fifth in a row decided by one or two runs. They have lost four of them.

Yajure, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis when the Pirates found a hole in their starting rotation, pitched four scoreless innings. With Zach Thompson (right forearm nerve inflammation) on the injured list, the Pirates did something they are accustomed to doing this season — reach down into the minor leagues for Yajure. They have used 53 players in less than a half-season.

Cruz, 23, ripped a 408-foot line-drive home run to right-center field in the fifth, a shot that left his bat at 109.8 mph. The ball was measured at 55 feet off the ground by Statcast, well below the major-league average of 87. It was Cruz’s first home run this season after he homered once late in 2021.

No one, not even Cruz, expected a ball with that trajectory to clear the wall.

”I thought it was just going to hit against the wall,” he said through translator Mike Gonzalez, “and that’s why I left the box speeding and doing everything possible to get the next bag.”

Shelton was likewise surprised, but impressed by Cruz’s power.

“I thought it was going to hit the wall and it just kept going,” he said. “This kid’s got unbelievable power. He hits the ball so dang hard. He creates a ton of leverage and then the extension he has on the front side … that’s why you see him hit a lot of balls that are near the ground that he’s able to extend out and get. Because he’s so big (6-foot-7, 220 pounds) and so loose is something that really stands out.”

Cruz said he was prepared for the pitch from the Nationals’ Erick Fedde, who was working on a 3-1 count.

”I had already programed in my mind, it’s 3-1 and if he throws me a fastball, I’m defintely going to square that ball up and hit it as hard as I can,” he said. “That’s what he threw and that’s what I connected.”

While he gets acclimated to the majors, Cruz has eight hits — three doubles and a homer — in his first eight games.

“In the past week, I’ve noticed that I’m growing a lot more and knowledgeable in the (strike) zone over here at this level,” he said. “I’m just becoming a lot more smarter and wiser in what pitches I want to swing at and which ones I want to avoid swinging at.”

The Pirates managed only six other hits against four Nationals pitchers. Josh VanMeter doubled with one out in the ninth, but the Nationals’ Kyle Finnegan retired Michael Perez and Hoy Park on fly balls to the outfield. Cruz, the leadoff hitter, was on deck as the game ended.

Yajure, 24, pitched with a short leash — he was the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians’ starting pitcher Thursday — and he was pulled from his fourth career start after 65 pitches. He allowed four hits and three walks.

”We were hoping to get three (innings) out of him,” Shelton said, pleased that Yajure gave one more. “Overall, a good outing. The ball came out of his hand well. He spun the ball well. It was very positive to see the things we talked with him in Indy that he translated into a major-league game.”

The Pirates converted two double plays behind Yajure, and he needed the second in the third inning when he walked two batters and the Pirates committed their first error after a streak of 74 ⅓ clean innings in a row. First baseman VanMeter muffed a two-out ground ball that loaded the bases, but Yajure retired Nelson Cruz on a force out.

The Pirates scored their first run in the second inning when Jack Suwinski doubled to put runners on second and third, and VanMeter lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Nationals scored their first run in the sixth off relief pitcher Yerry De Los Santos when Luis Garcia doubled and came across after two ground balls.