For the second night in a row, the Pirates leaned on their bullpen Saturday, and with another clutch late hit from Jacob Stallings and a first base blunder that they were on the right side of, they emerged victorious over the Marlins at PNC Park, winning 8-7 in 12 innings.
After starter Chase De Jong was tagged for five runs on three homers over his five innings, Sam Howard, David Bednar, Richard Rodríguez, Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes combined to give seven strong innings as the offense clawed back from an early deficit.
“Those guys down there are animals,” De Jong said of the relievers. “They are getting the job done night in and night out, and they are some of the most competitive guys that I've ever been around. They want the ball, they want to go out there, and it's phenomenal to come out of a game and know that those guys are the ones coming in behind me.”
That came after the bullpen was tasked with going seven innings the night before because Mitch Keller left with what the team called “heat illness.” All seven of those frames were scoreless.
Over the last two days, the only two Pirates who have not thrown a scoreless inning are Luis Oviedo, who has not appeared in a game, and the closer Rodríguez, who allowed a run to score in the ninth.
That’s 14 innings with one earned run allowed.
“The last two days doesn’t even count,” Crick said, adding later that he thinks the group is "evolving" into those animals De Jong described. “It’s been all year. These guys are dogs. They grab the ball and they go for it.”
Crick was on the hook for an unearned run despite throwing a 1-2-3 top of the 10th because teams start extra-innings with a runner on second. He was brought in for another frame in the 11th, and proceeded to unload back-to-back devastating sliders to wipe out Jose Devers.
Kyle Crick, Ridiculous back-to-back Sliders. 😳
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 6, 2021
Geez. pic.twitter.com/BvIqoIfTJY
Notice that Stallings is set up outside. When Crick’s slider is working, like it is now, and he is facing a lefty, Stallings said he has to set that target as far outside as he can, because that pitch is going to move.
The second slider in that gif broke 22 inches horizontally, nearly two feet.
“There is some adrenaline there and that makes it easier to finish your pitches,” Crick said.
Holmes navigated the 12th, and the Pirates didn’t allow a hit in extra innings.
“They really stepped up, threw the ball well,” Derek Shelton said. “Kudos to them, because they gave us a chance to win the game.”
It’s been the set-up and middle-relief guys doing the heavy lifting, and their roles may change later this year.
Rodríguez has stumbled a bit of late, allowing runs in three of his past four outings and blowing his last two save attempts. Shelton hasn’t seen anything different from his closer compared to his outstanding start of the season, so he doesn’t see any cause for concern.
“The least of my worries at any point is Richard Rodríguez,” Shelton said.
But this could serve as a preview for what life can be like for the Shelton and the Pirates’ bullpen if and when the Pirates deal Rodríguez. As the calendar turns to June, those preliminary trade talks between clubs do start to pick up, and considering his cheap salary ($1.4 million), two additional years of control, results and the fact that every contender can use more pitching depth, Rodríguez should be in demand.
If the last two days have shown anything, though, the Pirates’ bullpen isn’t succeeding because they have a bona fide closer. It’s the whole unit that’s clicking.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• After being on the wrong end of a mistake at first base in their last homestand, the Pirates caught a big break in the eighth inning Saturday.
Trailing 5-4 with the bases loaded and two outs, pinch-hitter Michael Pérez bounced a ball to first baseman Jesus Aguilar that should have ended the rally. Aguilar's feed to the pitcher covering the bag, Anthony Bender, was fine, but the right-hander just flat out whiffed:
That capped a four run rally where, besides a leadoff double by Ke'Bryan Hayes, the Pirates played small ball. The other two runs came on a bases loaded walk to Kevin Newman and Ka'ai Tom getting hit by a pitch.
Not exactly the most electric rally, but it got the job done.
"You can't undersell grinding out an at-bat and fouling off pitches," Shelton said. "When you extend at-bats, at some point, a pitcher's gonna make a mistake, and our guys did a good job of grinding through."
• That rally gave Stallings a chance to play the hero for the second time this series.
After roping a game-winning double in the eighth inning Thursday, the Marlins opted to intentionally walk Bryan Reynolds in the 12th with the winning run at third and one out. Stallings said in the on-the-field interview that he would have done the same thing.
Maybe they should have walked him too:
"If you catch 12 innings, man, getting a walk off's nice," Shelton said.
That's Stallings' fifth career walk-off, a rather impressive total for someone who has only played 181 games in the Majors.
"I really don’t have an explanation for it," Stallings said. "I think the most fun part about the game is competing and trying to win, so maybe that’s it."
The skipper's input?
"You never see him try to do too much," Shelton said. "That's really advantageous when you're in those situations."
Stallings had to flash the wheels as well. After being the automatic runner at second to start the 10th, he advanced to third on a ground ball to the right side before Gregory Polanco lifted a fly ball to center.
It looked deep enough off the bat, but after 10 innings, the Cheetah was running out of gas. He got home safely, but it wasn't a gimme.
"I’ve seen him make enough of those throws to know that he’s more than capable of throwing me out,” Stallings said.
• After a strong spring and pitching his way onto the roster, De Jong was hit hard in the fourth and fifth innings, allowing three home runs on three high fastballs. He has really relied on that pitch in his time with the Pirates, but on Saturday, he left them center-cut:
"There's a fine line between going at the top and getting a pop up and leaving that ball a little bit down," Shelton said. "I thought the first time through the order, his breaking stuff was really sharp, and the second time through it wasn't as sharp. Because of it, the fastball didn't play as well."
De Jong allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, walking one and striking out five.
He said postgame that he and pitching coach Oscar Marin were going to work on the thought process of how he goes through a lineup and adjustments he can make to ensure he doesn't fall behind in the count as often.
"When I'm ahead, I'm really good. When I'm behind, I get hit hard," De Jong said. "So I need to work ahead and I need to figure out a way to, when I'm behind in the count, get off the barrel."
• Before the game, Shelton said that Keller is feeling a bit better after being removed from Friday's game with heat illness.
Before the game, JT Brubaker was seen throwing on the field. He will pitch some point in the Dodgers series, which is scheduled for next Tuesday through Thursday. Brubaker entered the game in the 11th as a pinch-hitter and sent a hot shot back to the pitcher.
Colin Moran was in the Pirates' dugout Saturday. He had been on a rehab trip with Class AAA Indianapolis.
• Before the game, Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris threw out the ceremonial first pitch:
• Factoid of the game: Stallings is a career .309 hitter (25-81) in what Baseball Reference considers "late and close" situations.
THE ESSENTIALS
Box score
Video Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Jacob Stallings, C
Erik González, 1B
Gregory Polanco, RF
Kevin Newman, SS
Ka'ai Tom, LF
Chase De Jong, P
And for Don Mattingly's Marlins:
Jose Devers, 2B
Jesus Aguilar, 1B
Corey Dickerson, LF
Jorge Alfaro,C
Jazz Chisholm Jr., SS
Isan Díaz, 3B
Lewis Brinson, RF
Magneurius Sierra, CF
Trevor Rogers, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will go for their first sweep of the season -- and the rare four-game one at that -- Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Chad Kuhl (0-2, 6.41) will take on Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 3.68).
THE CONTENT
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