The M-V-P chants from left field caught Ben Gamel off guard.
"I thought they were for Bryan [Reynolds] in center," Gamel, who was playing in left, said with a smirk.
Most nights, sure. But not Monday. On Monday, Gamel went deep twice and drove in a career-high six RBIs in an 11-1 Pirates win over the Braves at PNC Park.
For a team that had scored just 10 runs over the previous seven games, and no more than two in any contest, it was a much-needed performance.
"I don't think we missed our pitches tonight. I think the scoreboard reflects that,” Gamel said. “I think if you go through the at-bats all night long, that kind of reflects that, too. We didn't miss the fastball tonight. Didn't the miss the breaking ball tonight. We were just finding barrels."
Gamel was the one leading the charge, starting in the bottom of the fourth, when he pounced on a center-cut 3-1 fastball from Max Fried and hit the “T” in the Pirates shrubbery in center field:
That gave the Pirates a 2-1 edge, which they would only expand from there. Gamel added an RBI double in the sixth, scored a wild pitch later in the frame and then put the game out of reach with a three-run shot to center in the seventh.
“I was really happy with Ben Gamel’s night,” Derek Shelton said. “Two home runs to dead center, that was impressive.”
While the offense as a whole has been in a rut of late, Gamel has been white hot, going deep five times over his last nine games. Over his last 20 games played, he has posted a .965 OPS, with 19 hits.
For someone who has bounced around the league throughout his career, including being claimed off waivers by the Pirates in May from the Indians, it’s a stretch that has earned him consistent playing time for the first time in a while.
“If this game's taught me anything, it's you can't take a day for granted,” Gamel said. “I'm grateful every time I'm out on that field. It's taken a while to get here, but nothing's guaranteed in this game.”
Shelton has said Gamel has done a good job getting in front of the ball of late and pulling it. Gamel believes that he and hitting coaches Rick Eckstein and Christian Marrero have found a good routine that puts him a position to hit. More importantly, he feels he’s following through with that plan, which is something he believes could help this offense get going.
“Consistency is everything in this game, and I think that's what we're all chasing, just finding consistency,” Gamel said. “Whatever that looks like, whatever it takes. I think we just have to keep pushing and putting our best foot forward."
Monday was a rarity for the Pirates offense, which got more production out of the lower half than the top. The top had a good night overall -- Adam Frazier had a couple of hits and Ke’Bryan Hayes went deep -- but to get contributions throughout, and to have that sort of outpouring, was a welcome change of pace.
“There’s definitely a sense of relief,” Shelton said. “It kinda snowballs. We’re talking about one of the best teams in the National League. We got going, and we just continued to have good at-bats and continued to execute. That’s a really good sign for us.”
JUSTIN BERL / GETTY
John Nogowski.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Welcome to Pittsburgh, John Nogowski. After being acquired from the Cardinals Saturday, the first baseman went 2-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and three runs scored in his Pirates debut.
Before the game, Nogowski talked about the importance of making a good first impression. Needless to say, that was accomplished.
“That was the kind of start we were hoping for," Nogowski said. "It’s a long season, one game, but definitely something to build off of."
Nogowski helped set up Gamel's fourth inning homer by drawing an 11-pitch walk. Fried had been rolling to that point, but never found a groove again afterward.
"A really nice debut for him," Shelton said. "Especially a credit to this kid. He hadn’t played in a week. The only thing he’s done is take ground balls and hit in the cage in Tallahassee. So for him to come out and have that debut, it was kind of nice."
After being designated for assignment last week, Nogowski went home to work with his original hitting coach: His dad, John Sr. There, he focused on his approach that caught the Pirates' eye. Ben Cherington described it as "good swing decisions" during his radio show on 93.7 The Fan Sunday.
"I think we just kind of put an emphasis on not chasing and making that pitcher get you out," Nogowski said. "Whatever pitch it may be, it’s got to be in the zone to get you out – especially in today’s day and age, with how good of stuff these guys have, you’ve got to get them in the zone. That gives you a better chance to be successful. That’s always been the big focus of mine, making sure I’m hitting strikes and back those guys into counts where they have to come to me.”
Nogowski bounced between the majors and minors and was used primarily as a pinch-hitter with the Cardinals, to poor results. He was just 1-for-18 before being letting go by the Cardinals.
Shelton said Nogowski will get a look at first since Colin Moran and Erik González are on the injured list, giving the 28-year-old his first real shot in the majors.
"I’m just excited to come here and get the opportunity to show what I can do and get more than one at-bat against a tough right-handed reliever," Nogowski said. "Come in and get some starts and play great defense, run bases, do all that stuff that kinda makes me valuable, in my opinion, makes me a good player and helps the team win.”
• After the top of the first, things did not look good for Chase De Jong.
"I'll be the first person to tell you that," the righty said about the early hole he dug for himself. "I was not efficient. I wasn't around the zone."
He allowed a run within the first two batters and narrowly escaped a bases-loaded jam, but at the cost of throwing 36 pitches.
The key problems were with his breaking pitches. Shelton said they were coming in flat that inning. De Jong didn't like his release point, thinking he wasn't getting out far enough. So after talking with Oscar Marin and Jacob Stallings in the dugout after the inning, he made an adjustment and found the right release point.
He turned it around there, and was able to go five innings and get the win. The Braves went 0-for-5 against his breaking pitches after that first inning.
"Really happy for Chase," Shelton said. "It's a long way back. This is a guy that rebuilt himself with Indy baseball, made it back to the big leagues. For him to get a win, especially after that first inning... that was outstanding."
With his wife and son in the stands, that was De Jong's first Major League win since Sept. 28, 2018.
"I'm pretty emotional right now," he said. "Two different independent ball stints, multiple organizations, up and down just fighting and grinding for all this. I mean, three years between major league wins for me. This was a pretty special night, and to grind through the first, be able to get through that and then cover five and not put a huge burden on the bullpen tonight, that's what I was really proud of."
• Phillip Evans was lifted in the top of the ninth to go through concussion protocols. The play in question happened on a bang-bang throw in the third inning, when he hit his head against Austin Riley’s leg while sliding into third base headfirst.
I’ll have an update from the ballpark Tuesday.
• Before the game, Steelers tackle Zach Banner tossed out the opening pitch and… it wasn’t great:
Zach Banner throws out the first pitch. He’s jusssssst a bit outside pic.twitter.com/xlog1Xii3W
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) July 5, 2021
Hey, at least he recognized it:
On a scale 1-10 how bad was that?
— Zach Banner (@ZBNFL) July 5, 2021
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Jacob Stallings, C
5. John Nogowski, 1B
6. Ben Gamel, LF
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Phillip Evans, RF
9. Chase De Jong, RHP
And for Brian Snitker's Braves:
1. Ronald Acuña Jr.,RF
2. Freddie Freeman,1B
3. Ozzie Albies, 2B
4. Austin Riley, 3B
5. Dansby Swanson, SS
6. Guillermo Heredia, CF
7. Orlando Arcia,LF
8. William Contreras, C
9. Max Fried, LHP
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will turn to Chad Kuhl (2-5, 5.16) Tuesday to try to extend their winning streak to three games. The Braves will counter with Ian Anderson (5-4, 3.35). First pitch will come your way at 7:05 p.m.
IN THE SYSTEM
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE CONTENT
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