Pirates Mailbag: Why does Clint Hurdle stick so long with his starting pitchers?

Welcome back, baseball fans. The Pirates (60-65) nearly toppled the Los Angeles Dodgers Monday night but instead fell, 6-5, in extras. A shorthanded bullpen forced manager Clint Hurdle to alter his pitching plan. It did not work. All questions are sic’d. If you have a question for next week’s mailbag, send it to snesbitt@post-gazette.com or to @stephenjnesbitt on Twitter.

Here we go.

Sue: I am living in New York but grew up in the ’Burgh, so I seldom miss a game thanks to technology. But this season, I continue to scratch my head every time Clint leaves a pitcher in, even when it is obvious to everyone that the pitcher is done. Gerrit Cole pitched a beauty tonight into the 7th inning, but…