For awhile Jameson Taillon looked quite good - until he wasn’t, and the Pirates bats made Matt Harvey look like the Dark Knight once again.
There was so much promise in the first inning. A starting pitcher with an ERA of six and a half the last two years. Gregory Polanco’s 110 mph line single. A pair of walks to load the bases. And 30 pitches later, Harvey escaped with a scoreless inning.
Taillon wasn’t as fortunate. Tucker Barnhart had lined a single to right sandwiched between called strike threes to Jose Peraza and Joey Votto. Then Scooter Gennett lofty a lazy fly ball to right center, but Gregory Polanco lost the ball in the lights, or slid in the mud, or something - and Gennett scampered into second base with an RBI double.