When Trevor Williams pitched to a 5.38 ERA last season, one of his biggest issues was failing to consistently repeat his delivery. Too often, something would get out of whack, and the resulting outcome was Williams’ pitches getting whacked. In 26 starts, Williams gave up 27 homers — a dozen more than the previous year while also making five fewer starts.
While they didn’t necessarily come on mistake pitches, three more homers — and four total — helped the Reds beat Williams and the Pirates, 6-2, on Saturday at PNC Park in a start that saw the right-hander clearly focused on altering his delivery and trying to get back on track.
Williams ditched his windup and worked exclusively out of the stretch, attempting to simplify and not rush his delivery. The result was another mixed bag — six strikeouts and some moments of promise, but also three homers allowed, including two to Eugenio Suarez (who had three on the night).
“I like the way it felt,” Williams said of pitching out of the stretch. “I thought it put my body in a good spot to do what I needed to do to perform and be as consistent as I can getting my hand to a certain spot.
“It’s one of those things, you just have to tip your hat to a guy.”
For Suarez, it was the first three-homer game of his career. It’s the first time someone hit three in one game against the Pirates since Paul DeJong of the Cardinals did it at PNC Park on July 24, 2019.
Williams (1-6) has now allowed 10 home runs, one fewer home run than Derek Holland, while his ERA stands at 5.80. Three more have allowed 10 homers, two have allowed 11, one has given up 12, and Gerrit Cole has coughed up an MLB-high 13.
“Honestly, I thought he did a good job executing pitches,” Shelton said. “It was very similar to the Minnesota outing for me, when he went seven [and allowed one run]. I think we just have to continue to build on that and work on the execution that he’s had specifically in those two games.”
There was one hiccup in the sixth inning, as Shelton went to the mound to talk to Williams, who thought he was being removed from the game. Holland even started to enter the game from the bullpen following a two-out walk to left fielder Shogo Akiyama.
“I'm gonna hold that ball until he rips it out of my hand from now on,” Williams said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”
Williams would retire the next hitter, shortstop Jose Garcia, to finish his night at 111 pitches, 68 for strikes. The 28-year-old worked six innings and allowed five earned runs.
In the eighth inning, Holland gave up the third home run of the night to Suarez, who now has 12 on the season and nine in his past 18 plate appearances.
Williams’ night started in fine fashion, as he recorded the first five outs on just 20 pitches. But on a ball that Reds center fielder Brian Goodwin bounced to first base, Josh Bell threw wildly toward Williams.
It was the second error for Bell in as many games, his fourth this season in 22 starts at first base and the MLB-high 37th for the Pirates in 2020. Over their past seven games, the Pirates have made a total of 12 errors.
A Williams strikeout of Garcia helped the Pirates escape trouble, but it was momentary. The Reds scored four runs in the third inning via two home runs.
Catcher Tucker Barnhart had the first, on an outside sinker, but the more notable event might’ve been what happened to Anthony Alford.
The Pirates center fielder slammed hard against the outfield wall, his right arm jamming into the padding at an awkward angle. Turns out Alford has a fractured right elbow, and his season is most likely finished.
The Pirates put together a rally in the third inning but only scored one run. Gregory Polanco came to bat with the bases loaded and hit a ball to the gap in right-center. Goodwin made a terrific running grab to limit the damage.
“Goodwin made an unbelievable play,” Shelton said. “Off the bat, I thought for sure that ball was in the gap, and we were going to get three runs. … Sometimes you get balls you don’t hit very hard that fall. [Saturday] we hit some balls right on the nose that we didn’t get anything for.”
In the next inning, Jacob Stallings turned on a 2-0 sinker and sent it screaming toward the left-field bleachers to make it a 4-2 game. Leading off the sixth, Suarez took a four-seamer from Williams into the right-field seats.
Although this season hasn’t been anything close to what he expected, Williams is staying positive.
“I know that I’m a good pitcher,” Williams said. “I know that, at the end of the day, I’m executing most of my pitches. And there are some things that I do need to work on, there’s no doubt about that. However, I’m taking as much positive as I can.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: September 6, 2020, 2:45 a.m.
Updated: September 6, 2020, 3:37 a.m.