SAN DIEGO -- Two members of the Pirates’ pitching rotation are on the injured list. A third has yet to have an effective outing after his own IL stint.\n\nIt’s the kind of situation that calls for a stopper -- a command performance that keeps a sinking rotation afloat. And up stepped …
Lyles wasn’t perfect. The 28-year-old right-hander gave Franmil Reyes a first-pitch fastball he could handle in the first inning, and Reyes blasted it 420 feet to center field for his 14th homer of the year. But no more extra-base hits followed as the strikeouts piled up.\n\n“He threw strikes -- fastballs up, curveballs down mostly,” Padres manager Andy Green said. “We didn't have great at-bats against him.”\n\nThat’s a difficult pill for the Padres to swallow, as Lyles was on their side as recently as last August. It’s those high fastballs that have made Lyles a different pitcher from when he shuttled between the Padres’ rotation and bullpen from 2017-18.\n\n“After I left here, I’ve definitely been pitching up in the zone a little bit more,” Lyles said. “Pitching up in the zone, I think, makes my other pitches a little bit better. It offsets guys looking out over \\[the plate\\]. That’s the main thing I can point my finger at.”\n\nOf Lyles’ 12 strikeouts -- the most by a Pirates pitcher since Francisco Liriano had 12 vs. the Brewers on July 21, 2016 -- eight ended on curves. Seven were swinging strikes on curves. Yet Hurdle backed Lyles’ assessment that the high fastballs are key.\n\n“The pitch that actually sets it up is the fastball,” Hurdle said. “He’s had games where he continues to pound the curveball, but it’s not in play. Tonight, the fastball command was good and the curveball had tight spin and had late tilt. He threw it for strikes in the bottom of the zone; he bounced it when he wanted to.”
Pirates rookie left fielder
If Pittsburgh is Lyles’ ultimate destination, he arrived at just the right time.