The Pittsburgh Pirates fell, 7-5, on Tuesday night to the San Diego Padres in 10 innings at Petco Park.
On most nights when a team loses in walk-off fashion, as the Pirates did thanks to Chase Headley's two-run blast, the fan base feels disappointed. In this case, many just feel confused by the curious decisions of manager Clint Hurdle.
Hurdle decided to bring in right-handed relievers Chad Qualls and Daniel McCutchen in a close game. It proved to be his undoing, as the Pirates were lit up in the late innings. Despite all of this, Hurdle defended his logic after the game, according to Bucs Dugout's summary of events and the tweets of Bill Brink.
"We’re seeing things we like to see and we’ve seen it that past when he’s been effective."
Qualls has been roughed up all year, compiling a 5.36 ERA in 51 games this season.
As for bringing in McCutchen, Hurdle explains his move in a curious fashion. Again, according to Brink:
"Daniel went through one of those last year," referring to to 19-inning
#Braves game
Again, it doesn't make a ton of sense on the surface with relievers like Joel Hanrahan on the bench, but that's why Hurdle gets paid the big bucks.
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