Ace Cole finally gets help from bats
one-run baseball. He struck out three, walked two. In Cole’s previous five starts, a stretch bookended by his win Wednesday night and his first win more than a month ago, he had a 1.91 ERA and .186 opponent’s batting average.
He also had the lowest run-support in the majors. Before Wednesday, the Pirates had averaged a meager 2.50 runs in games Cole started. That, however, included runs scored after he departed.
Considering only the innings Cole was on the mound since the season opened, the Pirates averaged 1.98 runs per nine innings, lowest among all major league starting pitchers.
“Nobody likes going out and not performing well on offense, especially when it continues to come around to one guy’s turn,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The problem you can have is when you focus on it sometimes it can manifest itself, and you get in a rut.”
The Pirates (17-23) had no answers early on opposite National right-hander Jacob Turner. He threw five scoreless innings before Bell’s blast in the sixth. Turner recorded only one out in the sixth and allowed three runs on four hits and four walks in 5⅓ innings.
Against the tattered Nationals bullpen, McCutchen, removed Tuesday in a late double-switch, sliced an RBI single to right field in the seventh, and Francisco Cervelli hit a sacrifice fly. The two-hit day raised McCutchen’s batting average to .216 and marked his first multiple-hit game since April 28.
“He shows up every day and works,” Hurdle said of McCutchen. “Today he was able to get some balls. It’s a game where, more often than not, everybody judges you on results. Nobody cares if you hit balls hard. Nobody cares if you make good outs. Nobody cares if you see nine pitches, other than your teammates and the people wearing the same uniform.”
The Nationals (25-14) were uncharacteristically quiet offensively, tallying three hits — two singles and a double — and three walks. It was only the second game this season in which Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman both played, and had no hits. Cole got ahead in counts, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of 25 batters, and opted for early contact over strikeouts.
Hurdle called it a “textbook” approach “start to finish.”
“It’s important to stay aggressive with this lineup,” Cole said. “If you start staring at the averages or the names on the back of the jerseys, it can be a little overwhelming.”
The pitching matchup Wednesday pitted two former first-rounders against each other. Cole, the No. 1 pick in 2011, has established himself as the Pirates’ ace. Turner, meanwhile, was drafted ninth overall in 2009 by the Detroit Tigers and debuted at 20. He was traded twice, claimed off waivers once and granted free agency twice before landing in Washington this past December.
Five organizations and a 5.01 ERA by age 25.
Turner and Cole traded zeroes for five innings. Cole issued a walk in the second, a bloop single in the third and another walk, to the pitcher Turner, in the sixth. Turner saw more traffic, with three hits — one was a pop fly and another a dribbler — and two walks through five innings.
Smoke cleared and mirrors shattered in the sixth. A leadoff walk, a fielder’s choice, a hit by pitch and a stolen base placed runners at the corners. Once Bell worked a 3-1 count, Turner was forced to challenge him with a fastball. He piped it, straight as an arrow down the heart of the plate, and Bell cracked it halfway up the right-field bleachers for a three-run home run.
The homer was Bell’s eight home run this season — the most among National League rookies — and his third in five games.
In 128 at-bats last season, Bell had three homers and 11 extra-base hits. In 122 atbats this season, he has eight home runs and 14 extra-base hits.