Pirates' Quinn Priester: Hurt by long ball in quality start

Priester (0-2) took the loss Wednesday as the Pirates were downed 4-0 by the A's, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks over six innings. He struck out three.

The 23-year-old battled both his control and his command, throwing only 59 of 97 pitches for strikes and serving up homers to Abraham Toro in the second inning and Tyler Nevin in the third. Priester still managed to put together his second straight quality start, and through three outings since his promotion he's delivered a solid 3.31 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 11:6 K:BB through 16.1 innings. His time in the Pittsburgh rotation could be running short though, with top prospect Paul Skenes getting stretched out to six innings in his last start for Triple-A Indianapolis. If Priester gets another turn, he lines up for a home start against the Angels early next week.