Tellez after turning the boos into cheers: 'It's nice to smile'

Through all the ups and downs he's experienced over his well-documented first two-plus months in a Pirates uniform, Rowdy Tellez finally had his shining moment in front of 29,700 fans at PNC Park Saturday afternoon. 

Tellez, whose overall struggles at the plate have prompted frequent boos from the home faithful, managed to turn the negative crowd reaction into cheers with one swing of the bat against Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson in the seventh inning of the Pirates' 4-0 victory: 

"It's nice to smile," said Tellez, who collected two hits -- including his second home run of the season -- and drove in three runs to help the Pirates secure their second straight shutout win as well as a series victory. "It's nice to feel the way my teammates feel. It's nice to be happy going out. There's a lot of things, like I said, a lot of emotions. So it's been nice to hear that. It's been really comforting. Like I said, hasn't been a lot of ups so it's nice to go out there and hear my name. I'm trying to do the best I can for everybody. Trying to be that leader, that player that needs to produce. That's what they brought me here to do and we're going to get that going and keep it going."

Tellez said he felt comfortable the third time around against Woods Richardson, who forced him to ground into a double play in his first at-bat and got him swinging on a slider way inside in the fourth inning. 

"I think the last at-bat he kind of made me look stupid, so I kind of knew what I didn't need to do," Tellez said. "So it was nice to get a pitch over the plate, to do some damage with, but I think a huge shoutout goes to my teammates for having my back the whole time and supporting me, coaching staff, trusting that I'm going to get there. Just because my resume says I can do it doesn't mean it's always going to happen, so for them to trust me, it's really comforting."

Rowdy heard his name chanted in unison after his solo shot made it 1-0 in the seventh, but the cheers got louder in the bottom of the eighth when he cashed in on a run-scoring opportunity with a two-run single that pushed the Pirates' lead to three: 

"That was awesome. I give our fans a ton of credit. I know it's challenging when guys aren't performing," Derek Shelton said. "This guy's been working his butt off, he's been a good teammate, he's done everything we've asked, gone in to play defense late, but even before the homer, they could feel it and they got into it, which was cool. It just continued to go. Just give our fans a ton of credit. Players appreciate that, man. That resonates with them and they care. That's the big thing. Rowdy had a nice game. I'm giving our fans a check next to it because I think that was a big part of it."

Tellez, who is now hitting .391 (9 for 23) with seven RBIs over his last seven games, was greeted with a curtain call after his homer as well as positive reactions from his teammates in the dugout and in the clubhouse after the game: 

"Very happy for him," said Michael A. Taylor, who contributed an RBI single of his own in the Pirates' three-run eighth inning. "When you see somebody struggling like that and the work they're putting in behind the scenes, you're rooting for that guy. It's not a fun spot to be in, so I'm happy he came through and the work he's been putting in." 

“Happy for Rowdy. He’s always coming up to the batter’s box trying to help our team," Luis Ortiz said through interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales. "I’m really happy he came through tonight, especially late in that game when he put us on top of the board to get us that win.” 

Shelton, Ben Cherington and a number of teammates have lauded Tellez's ability to be a good teammate in the midst of long-standing struggles. He knows it's his job to do that in addition to producing day in and day out. But with a performance like this, he hopes there are more homers, multi-hit games and smiles ahead. 

"Whether I'm 0 for 50 or 50 for 50. Whether I'm the greatest player on earth or the worst player on earth, my job is to come in here every day and go to battle with my guys," Tellez said. "That's always how I looked at it. I have to show up every day whether I want to or not, just like everybody. Some days you want to call in sick and some days you want to leave early but my job is to show up every day. That's part of being a baseball player. That's part of being a teammate and you don't grind for 162 with these guys with not showing up every day. I've just been fortunate to do this for a while. That's what I've learned over my time, you've got to ride or die whether you want to or not, so you might as well do it with a smile."

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