For most of the year, Matt Capps had been the only reliable pitcher on the entire Pittsburgh Pirate team.
Not anymore.
Monday night, Capps blew the save against the Reds without recording an out, giving up a double to Dave Ross and then a walk-off, two-run homer to Ken Griffey Jr. in the Bucs’ 4-3 defeat. It was his fourth blown save in his past six opportunities. Capps had previously saved his first 15 chances of the season.
Granted, there is a little shame in giving up a home run to Griffey—Monday’s homer was the 603rd of his career—but Capps is clearly in a bit of a rut right now.
It’s come at a difficult time, and has prevented the Pirates from gaining any kind of momentum. If Capps had saved three of the four games that he blew, his team would be sitting at exactly .500 right now.
In the long run, Capps should be fine. He still isn’t walking anybody, and his ERA is still below three on the season, despite the aforementioned struggles. He appeared to have already righted the ship, pitching four straight scoreless outings after a stretch in which he blew three saves in four appearances.
But only one of those four outings was a save chance. And unfortunately, there is very little margin of error for Capps. The Pirates simply cannot afford to blow leads late. They have been relying on Capps all season—perhaps too much, as it is very possible that his slump is the product of overuse—and he had come through repeatedly, keeping the team afloat in its quest for .500.
Now the team is finally clicking and the Bucs are getting some starting pitching, which means they can win tight, low-scoring games. But only if Capps pitches the way he was in April and May.
Capps’ performance overshadowed important performances from Adam LaRoche and Paul Maholm. LaRoche, who is still waiting to break out of his perennial season-opening slump, went three-for-three with a home run and three RBI.
Maholm, by far the Pirates’ steadiest pitcher of late, allowed two runs in seven innings. It was the second time in his last three starts that Maholm lost a win in the ninth inning when Capps blew the save.
Capps has the arm, the stuff, and the mental make-up to put this rough stretch behind him and regain his form as a dominant closer.
For the Pirates’ sake, he better do it soon.
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