Pirates shake slumber
Offense wakes up with two runs in ninth inning in win against Reds.
After a frustrating Sunday afternoon offensively, the Pirates finally figured it out in the ninth.
Trailing by a run, designated hitter Josh Bell, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and center fielder Cole Tucker hit consecutive singles to start it off, with Tucker’s driving in Bell to tie the score.
Kevin Newman pinch- hit for catcher John Ryan Murphy, but grounded out weakly to the pitcher, resulting in a rundown between third and home that retired Hayes. But Tucker wisely advanced to third to set up the winning run.
With the Cincinnati Reds employing a five- man infield, Erik Gonzalez lofted a ball deep enough to right field to score the speedy Tucker and give the Pirates a 3- 2 win at PNC Park. It was the Pirates’ second walk- off win of the season and gave them a split of a four- game series.
“I wasn’t going to run, instinctually, but [ third- base coach Joey] Cora was behind me like, ‘ Go, go, go, go, go!’ ” Tucker said. “So I took off. It just looked like [ Reds outfielder Shogo Akiyama] was way too close to the infield to go, but Joey being Joey, he just sent me.”
“I mean, no pressure, but I just think look at something up to get in the air, and [ Raisel] Iglesias got a good slider, too,” Gonzalez said. “I just think, like, try to hit the ball to the other way, because when I think that, I can get in the ball where I want to hit.”
The Pirates’ three runs were not exactly eye- popping productivity. Their only extra- base hit of the game came on a leadoff double from Gonzalez in the first. Gonzalez and second baseman Adam Frazier each had two hits, extending their hitting streaks to 8 and 10 games, respectively. But until the ninth, the rest of the team had two hits combined — left fielder Bryan Reynolds’ RBI single in the third and Hayes’ single in the fourth.
The three runs were enough, though, because of a stellar performance from bullpen following starter Chad Kuhl who departed after the Reds scored twice in third and just 64 pitches. Manager Derek Shelton said that was pre- planned. Kuhl is coming off Tommy John surgery and had thrown 80 pitches or more in each of his past two starts.
So, the Pirates needed their relievers to step up, and they did. Geoff Hartlieb, Sam Howard, Chris Stratton, Nik Turley and Richard Rodriguez combined for six scoreless innings to close out the game .
“We all knew it was going to take a lot of us today and to be ready early because of his limited pitch count,” Howard said. “It’s easier to lock in [ when] you just know from the first pitch that we’re gonna be used. Overall, everybody just stays locked in.”
While the bullpen has been put in a tough spot this season, with several injuries depleting their available arms, they actually have been quite good, other than a few outliers. Overall, entering Sunday, the Pirates had the 12th- worst bullpen ERA in baseball. But since Aug. 8, the day after reliever Miguel Del Pozo was designated for assignment, the Pirates have had the ninth- best bullpen ERA.
That has been led by the discoveries of players such as the five who finished out the game out Sunday.