On Friday night, Clint Hurdle said that one of the Pirates’ keys to success against the Cincinnati Reds was their ability to chase Luis Castillo from the game early.
Then again, the Pirates starters, too, have had troubles going deep into the games early this season. Only Trevor Williams, who threw six hitless on Sunday in Detroit, has completed six innings thus far. The weather isn’t exactly conducive to staying warm and loose, and in any case, it’s still early in the season, and the pitchers are still getting stretched out.
So perhaps the Reds were trying to give the Pirates a taste of their own medicine when they chased Chad Kuhl after five innings and got to the bullpen in the Pirates’ 7-4 loss to the Reds.