Happ skipped over in rotation
PITTSBURGH — J.A. Happ is having his turn in the Pirates’ rotation skipped after making only one start.
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, taking advantage of a second scheduled off day in four days next Monday, will not start the left-hander in the pivotal three-game series against the Cardinals that begins Tuesday night at St. Louis.
Happ would normally pitch Tuesday, but left-hander Jeff Locke will instead start the series opener. Right-hander Gerrit Cole and left-hander Francisco Liriano will pitch the other two games.
The Pirates entered the weekend six games behind the Cardinals in the National League Central.
Happ gave up four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings in losing to the Cubs on Tuesday night at PNC Park in his Pirates’ debut. He was acquired from the Seattle Mariners on July 31 in a trade for right-handed pitching prospect Adrian Sampson.
With the Mariners, Happ was 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 21 games, including 20 starts.
However, including his lone Pirates’ start, Happ is 1-6 with a 6.80 ERA in his last 11 games. Opponents are hitting .312 off him in that span.
Happ will also try to work out some issues with his throwing mechanics with the aid of Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage.
“They’ll do some side work from time to time,” Hurdle said. “I think Ray and him have already touched upon what’s important, what we need to do to help him be the consistent pitcher that he showed the first half.
“It’s really not about fixing him. I think it’s more about fine-tuning some things.”
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Neil Walker reached double digits in home runs for the sixth consecutive season last Sunday by hitting No. 10 off Reds rookie right-hander Keyvius Simpson at Cincinnati.
Walker joined Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski as the only Pirates second basemen to hit at least 10 home runs in six different seasons. Mazeroski reached that mark in 1958, 1960-62, 1964 and 1966.
The only other major league second baseman to have double-digit homers in each of the last six seasons is the Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano. The Philadelphia Phillies’ Chase Utley has done so each of the previous five seasons but entered the weekend with just four homers this year.
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The Pirates had a run differential of just plus-3 in July, scoring 120 runs and allowing 117, yet had a 17-9 record. The differential ranked sixth in the NL and tied for 12th in the major leagues.
The Los Angeles Angels led the majors with plus-48 and the San Francisco Giants topped the NL with plus-29.