PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Pirates were no-hit until the seventh Wednesday and didn’t score until the 12th, but they found a way to win. What they believe they’ve also done is found some positives as they play in Cincinnati this weekend.
It was Joey Bart with a deep fly ball on a 3-2 pitch over the drawn in outfield that won the game Wednesday 2-1 in 13 innings over the Cardinals at PNC Park. They wasted a stellar start from Mitch Keller as he got his 700th career strikeout, but they did get a win.
Following a sloppy start to the home schedule, there was better defense especially on Wednesday. Two names come up in that regard, Gold Glover Ke’Bryan Hayes and Tommy Pham.
Hayes just seems back to playing the game and not being hampered by injuries or worrying about what he might not be doing at the plate. He not only made a great grab and throw up the third base line, but a couple of heads-up plays that saved runs. Manager Derek Shelton called him catching Nolan Arenado off third base and being in the right place after a dropped pop-up to tag a runner out ‘Grade-80’ defense. Mitch Keller said he’s just a high IQ player.
“Ke’Bryan is a crazy smart player,” Bart said. “Really, really instinctual player. Has the best internal clock by a player on the field. He slows a game down better than anybody, that’s why he is who he is.”
“He's the best defender in baseball, when he's on the field and when he's healthy,” Shelton said. “The other thing we have to maintain is his health. I appreciate how hard he worked this winter to get to that point. But he's a game changer. Ke’Bryan Hayes is an elite defender."
No outs in the 10th with the runner at second to start the inning, Pedro Pages lined a single to left, everything was perfect from Pham as he threw out Nick Burleson by a wide margin and the Cardinals wouldn’t score. Bart explains why that’s more than just a routine play.
“If you guys watch him prepare every day it’s unreal,” Bart explained. “I’ve never seen a guy do the things that he does.”
Bart explained while others are just out getting loose or joking around during batting practice, the 37-year-old Pham is taking reads on ground balls and fly balls to see how the turf is reacting. How the wind is impacting the balls, then he makes throws to practice situations.
“That’s why when he’s in those moments, he’s ready,” Bart said. “As a teammate you can’t thank a guy like that enough for being prepared for those moments and making plays.”
Andrew McCutchen ranged into right-center to take a hit away. Adam Frazier with an over-the-shoulder catch. Then Pham at the plate with another key hit.
"I think the thing we have to realize with Tommy Pham, you look at the back of the baseball card, he's a good baseball player,” Shelton said. “He's been doing this for a long time. He's off to a little bit of a rough start, but you look at two of the wins on this homestand and Tommy Pham is right in the middle of them.”
“That's why you don't worry about 11 games. He's gonna get it going."
Then there is the bullpen, after blowing games in Miami, they are starting to find some roles and doing so with David Bednar in the minors, Colin Holderman and Dauri Mareta injured and Carmen Mlodzinski in the starting rotation.
· Justin Lawrence-6 appearances, 1.35 ERA
· Joey Went-5 appearances, 1.23 ERA
· Dennis Santana-7 appearances, 2.45 ERA, 1.09 WHIP
· Caleb Ferguson-7 appearances, 0.00 ERA
· Ryan Borucki-7 appearances, 6.00 ERA, aside from the meltdown against the Yankees, has had their best stuff from Spring Training on
“Overall, yeah, the bullpen was outstanding,” Shelton said about Wednesday. “I think we're starting to see that this bullpen has some good stuff. We just gotta figure out how we're going to slot them in. I think (Wednesday) was a perfect example of getting really good matchups and our guys executing at a really high level."
It’s not perfect, still a lot to work on, but at least better and a few building blocks as the Pirates head to Cincinnati for the weekend after a first series win.
“Any day there is a W it’s big,” Bart said. “It doesn’t matter how they come. Just keep stacking them together. It’s a long year. Don’t get too high or low, let the thing play out and keep trying to win close games. If you can win a lot of close games, you can be a good team.”