Tellez snaps out of slump, but Bucs strand 13 in loss at Toronto

It was their first defeat of the season when getting at least 10 hits.

Rowdy Tellez finally had the breakout game the Pittsburgh Pirates have been waiting for from the first baseman, with season highs of three hits and four RBIs against the team that drafted him.

But it was another burly slugger who did the most damage against his former team, as designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach delivered a two-run double to give the Toronto Blue Jays the goahead run.

The Blue Jays’ bullpen shut down the Pirates over the final four innings, and Davis Schneider doubled to score Daulton Varsho in the sixth to clinch a 5-4 win and the three-game series Sunday at Rogers Centre.

The Pirates lost for the first time in 18 games when getting at least 10 hits. They went 3 for 16 with runners in scoring position — including seven on strikeouts — and stranded 13.

Vogelbach (.184) and Tellez (.175) were struggling at the plate entering the series. Where Vogelbach had backto- back games with multiple hits, Tellez went 3 for 4 with a walk, a double and four RBIs to record his first extra-base hit and first RBI since May 5.

“He took good swings,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the Sports-Net Pittsburgh postgame show, noting Tellez’s lineout to center in the seventh had an exit velocity of 110.5 mph. “The ball he made the out on was the hardest ball he hit, and Varsho made an unbelievable play. This kid has the ability to hit. We just need to get him going.”

With lefty Martin Perez (groin) on the 15-day injured list, the Pirates promoted 23-year-old rookie right-hander Quinn Priester from the taxi squad for his sixth start. To make room on the active roster for Priester, the Pirates placed utility infielder Alika Williams on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 30) with a right wrist sprain.

Priester allowed four runs on eight hits and three strikeouts without a walk over 4 2/3 innings but twice blew Pirates leads as the Blue Jays sat on his sinker and hit it hard. Shelton said the sinker got up in the strike zone and flat, allowing the Blue Jays to put the ball in the air.

“I’ve just got to execute better, whether that’s using the outer half or getting the sinker down,” Priester said. “I’ve got to execute better, and I probably could have mixed better, as well. … When I missed my spots, that’s when they are able to capitalize. I think early they recognized that I wanted to use it, and they kind of started to cheat to that pitch.”

Toronto’s Chris Bassitt didn’t have great command, hitting three batters with pitches and walking another, but recorded seven strikeouts and was able to get out of jams to strand seven runners in scoring position over the first, second and third. Bassitt got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second by getting Bryan Reynolds to ground out to first.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead with two outs in the third inning when Tellez lined a 1-1 curveball to right field to drive in Connor Joe from second base. But with runners on first and third, Bassitt got Ji Hwan Bae to hit a soft grounder to end the frame.

Varsho answered with a leadoff double in the bottom of the third, advancing to third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s flyout to right and scoring on Priester’s wild pitch to tie the score at 1-1.

Tellez hammered a 1-1 changeup to center for a two-run double to drive in Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes — who had back-toback singles — to extend the Pirates’ lead to 3-1 in the fifth.

“He’s been working hard,” Shelton said of Tellez. “The last homestand, we gave him the three days to work on his swing. I think we’re seeing his timing be more consistent.”

The Blue Jays, however, answered again in the bottom of the inning as Priester struggled in his third time through the order. Kiner-Falefa hit a leadoff single and advanced to third on Schneider’s single to left-center. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s sharp grounder to right scored Kiner-Falefa to make it 3-2, putting runners on first and third with one out.

After Priester struck out Bo Bichette, Shelton turned to right-handed reliever Hunter Stratton to face Vogelbach, who has a career .128 batting average against left-handers. Shelton said he didn’t want to use lefties Aroldis Chapman, whose command has been an issue, or Jose Hernandez, who hasn’t pitched since May 23. It backfired, as Vogelbach roped a two-run double to right-center to give the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.

The Pirates blew another scoring opportunity in the sixth. Andrew McCutchen and Reynolds drew walks off Chad Green, who struck out Joe and Cruz before Hayes squared up a fastball at 107.4 mph but lined out to left to end the chance.

Toronto stretched its lead in the bottom of the sixth, when Varsho reached on a soft bunt to first, advanced to third when Stratton made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt and scored on Schneider’s double to the left field corner to make it 5-3.

“Stratton has the ability to get people out,” Shelton said. “He just didn’t execute.”

Cruz opened the ninth with a double to right, but Yimi Garcia struck out Hayes and Gonzales on fastballs at the top of the strike zone before Tellez hit a full-count sinker for a single to score Cruz and cut it to 5-4. Garcia then struck out Bae to end the game.

Shelton pointed to the Pirates’ inability to drive in runners in scoring position as the difference in the game.

“Sometimes, it’s just getting a ball or two to fall,” Shelton said. “Going back to the ball that Ke’ hit, there’s nothing you can do when you take good swings. We had a couple opportunities where we took good swings and the ball got caught, and we had a couple opportunities where Bassitt executed pitches and we ended up putting the ball on the ground.”