CHICAGO — Jameson Taillon did not start Sunday against the Chicago Cubs as scheduled because of flu-like symptoms, forcing Chad Kuhl to take the mound on short rest and short notice.
Three emergency medical technicians were in the Pirates clubhouse Sunday morning attending to Taillon. About half an hour before game time, Taillon walked into the Pirates dugout from the outfield bullpen while Kuhl began warming up.
“He did present pretty intense flu-like symptoms upon arrival to the ballpark,” head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said. “He was treated and assessed by our medical department [this] morning, rebounded quite nicely and continued his preparation for the game. He experienced pretty intense flu-like symptoms again while warming up for the game.”
Kuhl threw seven innings and 95 pitches Thursday in a win against the Philadelphia Phillies and started on two days of rest. Gerrit Cole, who had an extra day of rest because he started Wednesday, had thrown a bullpen session Saturday and was unavailable to pitch.
Kuhl found out when he arrived at the ballpark at 9 or 9:30 a.m. that he would start.
“I lifted [Saturday] so I was a little sore, but nothing out of the ordinary,” Kuhl said.
Kuhl said he never started on short rest before, but did close a game in college after pitching six innings the day before. Sunday, he allowed a run in three innings.
“Incredible,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Uncharted territory for him, coming off his longest start of the season. To go out there and cut the game to six innings, and to pitch dealing with the adrenaline and the late call, he just said, ‘I got it.’ ”
Frazier benched
Adam Frazier was out of the lineup Sunday. He was hitting .308 on June 4. In 29 games since, he has hit .186 with 16 strikeouts. He also made two errors at second base in the past two games.
“It’s challenging,” Hurdle said. “Sometimes he’s getting pitches to hit and he’s not barreling them up. He’s putting in the work. It’s not transferring into the game. He’s had offensive counts. The other day a 3-0 count, probably chased outside the zone trying to make something happen, so there’s a little bit of that going on.”
Max Moroff, who entered the game with four hits and 17 strikeouts in 44 at-bats, started at second base, with Josh Harrison in left field.
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.
First Published: July 9, 2017, 4:58 p.m.