PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – I mean it was really about the pitching when you discuss a 1-0 win over the Angels Friday night, but that it was 20-year-old Konnor Griffin’s return and he scored the game-winner from first base sliding and exposing he recently broken hand. That makes the one run, and who scored it, a big deal.
“I was scared,” starting pitcher Jared Jones said of his reaction to watching the play in the second inning. “He’s coming back from a broken finger. I saw him get fired up and I was like, ‘All right, he’s cool.’
“The guy plays the game really hard. He’s fun to watch on a day-to-day basis.”
“I wasn't even looking at the ball,” Griffin said after the hit by Jake Mangum down the right field line. “I just kind of keep my eye on the catcher, see how he's moving, and then I saw him kind of moving with the catch and try to get as far away from him as I can, but still be able to touch the plate, so worked out good."
Griffin reached across with the left hand. The one with the healing broken bone, but came across fine, saying he didn’t feel anything on the tag and was glad to be wearing a sliding mitt.
“I’m not sure if anyone else in the major leagues scores on that ball,” said manager Don Kelly. “That was unbelievable. Just the speed, and then how he got in, I’m still not sure. It looked like the ball beat him and he’s able to avoid it and get his hand back to just catch the back part of the plate. I mean, that’s just Konnor.”
“The electricity that he brings overall and what he’s able to do and how he’s able to change a game. We see the power, we see the defense, he’s an elite player, but on the bases, it’s electric.”
“You don’t get paid $140 million to be average, so seeing him go through his workday and do what he does on the field every single day is really fun to watch,” Jones said.
Jared Jones dominant as Pirates win 70th game
"I was just laying my body on the line, trying to score a run, and when you've been out so long, it means a lot when good stuff happens,” Griffin said. “I normally don't show too much emotion, but guess it came out of me. I was pretty fired up."
“He can change a game with a swing, on the bases, the play in the field,” Kelly said. “Just the dynamic ability that he has and energy he brings to the ball club when he’s in there, it’s palpable.”
Winners of five of the last six games, the Pirates as of late Friday night were 4 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot, depending on the Padres result it could be 4.5 games, but still an outside shot with 20 games left.
Justin Berl / Stringer
“Why not?” Jones said of their chances. “Throughout the year, it kind of sucks when you have injuries. They happen. But for them to be some of your best players, that does suck. But we’re slowly getting them back, little by little, and having Oneil come back first and then Konnor trail with him, we’re starting to get our full squad back together.”
“I feel like if anyone, we could be the one to get on a run.”
