Nothing's crazy if it works, right?
The Pirates really needed to do something to stop the bleeding of a 10-game losing streak. But hours before the club fell back into some old habits and nearly gave a game away, they decided to remind themselves that this game can be fun sometimes. Turns out, there's a lot of that going around.
On Friday, however, the good times only lasted the first six innings. That turned out to be just long enough.
When the dust -- literally from the first fireworks show on the Allegheny in quite some time -- settled, the club halted its longest skid in nearly a decade, defeating the Indians, 11-10, at PNC Park.
"I take away that I got a win," Derek Shelton said with a chuckle of relief.
Just about everything was working for the first two-thirds of the game, but things once again unraveled on what had been the Pirates' strongest unit to date: The bullpen, which allowed nine unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth.
When the Pirates' lead hit double-digits, there was little expectation that their closer, Richard Rodriguez, would appear in the game. But not long after that 11th run crossed the plate, Rodriguez pumped a fastball above the zone past Bobby Bradley and pumped his fist and let out a primal roar in triumph as he secured his eighth save of the season.
"I think I drank five bottles of water. Paced a little bit," Shelton said. "I felt comfortable with Richie out there on the mound in the ninth. He's done a nice job all year, regardless of if it's a three-run lead, four-run lead, one-run lead, and he got it done, which was important. Tonight was a big win for us."
It all worked out in the end. But it's absolutely worth examining how to prevent things from reaching that point in the future.
All season, much of the strain on the bullpen has been the result of short, inefficient and ineffective outings from starters. But that was not the case Friday.
There was a lot working for Chad Kuhl in this contest, and that will be examined further. He was the pitcher of record on the winning side for the first time all season after allowing just one run over the first six frames. Kuhl yielded four hits, walked one and hit a batter while striking out four in his best start of the season.
He was also uncharacteristically efficient. Obviously, it helps to be the beneficiary of four double plays, but he needed just 77 pitches to get through those six innings. But even with that low pitch count, he was lifted in favor of a pinch-hitter as the Pirates rallied in the home half of that frame.
"Kuhl had done his job, and then we've got a right-hander and four left-handers," Shelton said. "It's a perfect spot for Sam Howard to come in the game and execute."
Obviously, there will be a lot made of Shelton's decision to once again move away from a dominant starter on a low pitch count. There were a couple of these situations in the Milwaukee series that completely backfired. On Friday, it happened again. But the Pirates received something of a double-edged sword.
Even in hindsight, as the bullpen really melted down, the move that was made still looks like the right call. Kuhl came out for pinch-hitter Phillip Evans, drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the Pirates' lead to six runs. Adam Frazier was hit in the back by a pitch to bring home another run, and Ke'Bryan Hayes cleared the bases with a double to the alley in right.
There isn't a good argument to be made for why a club would rather have Kuhl in a five-run game instead of Howard pitching with a 10-run lead. As it's been mentioned before, the game should dictate these situations. Sure, Kuhl was better than he's been all year. But, whether the relief staff has been good or bad, there isn't a manager in baseball that doesn't trust his bullpen for nine outs in a 10-run game.
"We did not execute pitches, and that's why the game got close," Shelton said.
Most of the damage was done against Howard, who allowed six runs capped by a Cesar Hernandez grand slam while only recording two outs in the seventh. Sure, Shelton clearly stuck with him a little too long. But it was, by all conventional wisdom, a safe enough lead.
With that one inning, Howard's ERA leapt from 2.45 to 4.44. He'd been one of the most reliable figures in the Pirates' most reliable group.
Clay Holmes also wore that distinction for most of the season until last week. He carried a scoreless outing streak across 17 appearances before being lit up for five runs in Milwaukee last Friday. He's since allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings during his past four appearances.
The one out he recorded Friday night -- which ended the eighth with the tying run on third base -- was massively important. But unfortunately the moment only carried so much weight because of the hit he allowed to the previous batter: A bases-clearing single to Rene Rivera, which was aided by a Bryan Reynolds throwing error.
Those runs, just two earned, were charged to Kyle Crick, who allowed a base hit and plunked to lefty batters with sliders.
"I think with anything, we have to evaluate at all time what guys are doing and what roles they are going to pitch in. The big with that, number one, is we have to execute, and we did not execute. And not only did we not execute, but we walked guys, we hit guys to put them in situations to extend it. We have to be better than that."
Even Rodriguez struggled to execute. Before the strikeout to end the game, he yielded consecutive singles to Amed Rosario and Ernie Clement, and was forced to record the final out with the go-ahead run in scoring position.
"It's just one of those things, man. You have all the confidence in the world. These guys have been pitching their tails off," Kuhl said. "Just one of those things where, just, baseball happens. You know?"
The Pirates are still eighth in the National League with a 3.89 reliever ERA. There's still a lot to like about that bullpen. But in the past week, it seems like too many times they've swatted away a rare life preserver provided by an effective starter.
These situations don't happen too often. And the Pirates need to start capitalizing when they do.
• There was obviously still something for the Pirates to celebrate Friday. They came out on top in a difficult -- even if it was by their own hand -- contest at a time when a win was hard to come by. Things were undeniably different before the game even started.
Without giving too much credit to good vibes and smiling faces, the mood of this team was noticeably upbeat during an unorthodox batting practice session masterminded by veteran Tyler Anderson. The 31-year-old got the support of some teammates and approached Shelton during Wednesday's flight home from Washington.
"They wanted to do something different. They wanted to compete against each other. So, yeah. We're doing something a little different today where they're playing a game amongst themselves," Shelton said during a pregame Zoom call. "Anytime you can have competition against when you're doing drill work. It makes everything better."
Rather than seeing hitters divided into groups, taking turns in the cage while others get in some fielding work and the pitchers shag fly balls in the outfield, the Pirates did something very different. Most of the roster congregated around the batting cage while a group of pitchers -- yes, pitchers -- cycled back and forth from the fielding positions. Anderson played second base in the later innings, Howard was in right field and Rodriguez played a little first base.
The rest of the club was gathered around the cage. Their own bat in hand. Laughing and cheering for their teammates that were able to drop hits off a pitching machine in between a motley crew of relievers that debuted black t-shirts that read, "BEWARE OF THE DOGS." Again, hindsight is 20-20.
Coincidentally, the offense scored as many runs in the first three innings as they had in the previous four games. Gregory Polanco and Reynolds both homered, their seventh and 11th of the year, respectively, and Jacob Stallings chased home a pair of runs with a first-inning double.
"We came here today and decided, ‘Listen, let’s have fun and do this game and whatever we play, we enjoy it.' We did it in practice and you see what happened tonight so for sure it helps," Polanco said of the pregame contest.
In regards to the Polanco homer, that ball was smoked.
It came off the bat at 109-mph and traveled 410 feet into the stands above the Roberto Clemente Wall. It's been tough sledding for Polanco for a long time now, which makes moments like this almost infuriating. He described the pregame competition as sort of a simulated game. They worked on situational hitting, even worked pitchers into the box in situations to try and bunt a runner over if needed.
Frazier had hits in two consecutive at-bats Friday. The first was a walk-off homer in the pregame competition that brought his crew the honor of choosing what the losing team will wear on their next road trip to St. Louis. The other was a single on the second pitch from Indians rookie J.C. Mejia that opened a five-run rally in the opening inning of the game that counted.
"If that was the case, we should have done this like eight days ago, nine days ago," Shelton joked. "I do think they had a little fun. When you lose 10 games and you come off an off-day, and there were probably a lot of guys that sat at home that thought about it, the fact that players were able to create something themselves to have some fun was important. To say it played a part in it, yes, it did, and I give credit to Tyler Anderson on that."
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Colin Moran, 1B
Jacob Stallings, C
Gregory Polanco, RF
Kevin Newman, SS
Ka'ai Tom, LF
Chad Kuhl, P
And for Terry Francona' Indians:
Cesar Hernandez, 2B
Amed Rosario, SS
Jose Ramirez, 3B
Eddie Rosario, LF
Bobby Bradley, 1B
Josh Naylor, RF
Bradley Zimmer, CF
Rene Rivera, C
J.C. Mejia, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates continue their weekend series against the Indians on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. Wil Crowe looks to build off the best start of his career and will be opposed by veteran right-hander Cal Quantrill.
IN THE SYSTEM
• Maikol Escotto had a monster night at the plate during a doubleheader for Bradenton. He went a combined 4 for 5 with five RBIs while blasting his second homer of the season. The 19-year-old shortstop, who was part of the return package in the Jameson Taillon trade, is batting .325 with a .937 OPS in his first 77 at-bats this season.
• Much like his new teammate, Mitch Keller, the 23-year-old right-hander Max Kranick has fallen into something of a good start/bad start pattern through his first four outings with Indianapolis. Friday night was a tough start as he allowed five runs on eight hits and a pair of walks over five innings. Kranick struck out four as his ERA jumped to 4.66 in four starts at the level.
• Affiliate scores
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
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