The Pirates would have been better off forfeiting Sunday’s game vs the St. Louis Cardinals, that’s how bad SP Kris Johnson (0-2, 7.88 ERA) was, allowing 7 hits and 5 earned runs in just two innings. Johnson was a disaster giving the Pirates no chance as the Bucs trailed 5-0 after the third inning. Pittsburgh fell to the Cardinals 7-2. Apparently in the midst of a pennant race, the best the Pirates could come up with was Johnson in a spot start. “He didn’t come anywhere near having the command he did today that he had against the Diamondbacks,” Hurdle said of Johnson. The ideal pitcher to start would have been Jeanmar Gomez (3.11 ERA) but Hurdle felt Gomez wasn’t an option because he could only be stretched out for 50-55 pitches. Gomez would come in relief of Gomez, throwing three scoreless inning.

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