PITTSBURGH — The Pirates were the last team in the majors to hit a home run this season until David Freese and Francisco Cervelli went for back-to-back round-trippers in the fifth inning of their 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on Friday.
The power outage, exacerbated by a rain out and an off day, is not wholly unexpected. The Pirates were 12th in the 15-team National League in home runs in 2016, and that was before the team lost Matt Joyce (18 home runs) and Sean Rodriguez (13 home runs) to free agency and the continued absence of Jung Ho Kang (21 home runs) due to visa issues.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Pirates have other ways to score runs, and they showed that on Friday. The Pirates got a run in the third inning off a walk, a hit-and-run single and another single. In the fourth, a single, a sacrifice bunt and a single manufactured another run. In the seventh, it was a walk, an error, a fielder’s choice and a single that finally plated Cervelli.
“I don’t know if we’re a home-run hitting team,” said shortstop Jordy Mercer, who went 2 for 4. “We have a bunch of different guys that can do a bunch of different things. That’s what makes our team unique and different and special. We can run, we can hit and run, we can bunt, we can do a whole bunch of different things. … If we keep getting guys on base, things are going to happen.”
The hit and run, in particular, is a weapon that the Pirates could use more of this season.
“We are trying to find ways to maximize every skill that we’ve got on offense and I’m a firm believer that we’ve got some athletic guys that can move on the bases and swinging to behind them or swinging to protect them can help us,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
While Hurdle mentioned the team’s speedier players, it was Cervelli that was taking off on the pitch in the seventh inning.
“That’s another thing we can do to add pressure,” said Josh Harrison, who was at the plate. “If you’ve got a catcher running, that’s throwing off most teams. That’s another piece to the puzzle that they have to be aware of.”
Harrison is a notoriously free swinger, so there is always a danger of putting too much pressure on a hitter to make contact. But Josh Bell, who executed the team’s first hit-and-run of the game, said that it can actually help simplify things for the hitter.
“It takes the decision factor out of it,” he said. “So I’m just trying to square it up as hard as I can. … It takes the pressure off and puts the pressure on the defense. It puts the pressure on the pitcher. If he bounces one, Marte walks into second base. If he pipes a fastball to me, I know I can do damage.”
Even starting pitcher Ivan Nova got into the act, twice moving hitters over with a sacrifice bunt. Nova had never pitched in the National League before last season, and he’s been working hard to hone his craft in that area.
“This is one of the things I focused on during Spring Training,” he said. “I got the bunt down, moved the guy. The next guy got a base hit and a run scored. That’s one other thing that you have to focus on. It’s not only pitching.”
A CUT, A PICK AND A NO-LOOK THROW
In the eight inning with the Pirates leading, 5-1, the Braves threatened for the first time all day. Nick Markakis hit a ball that eluded the outstretched glove of Andrew McCutchen in right-center field that scored one run and then Brandon Phillips singled to center. Starling Marte came up throwing to try to get Markakis at the plate, but first baseman John Jaso cut the throw off.
It would have been a bang-bang play at the plate, and there were a smattering of boos from the sellout PNC Park crowd after Jaso snagged the throw, but he’s confident he made the right play.
“Even if those two runs scored, we were still leading in the ball game,” Jaso said. “Phillips represented the tying run and he could have gotten to second base. He’s an aggressive guy.”
The next batter hit a ground ball that deflected off the glove of pitcher Daniel Hudson. Harrison dove to his left to make the stop, flipped it to Mercer, who made a blind, turning throw to first to complete the double play.
“J-Hay started it,” Mercer said. “He gets all of the credit for it. He gave me a good feed.”
“Routine,” responded Harrison. “I feel like any time I get the ball to Jordy, he’s going to turn it. That’s why I say routine.”
NOVA ROLLS
Nova went six innings and allowed only one earned run while striking out four. Cervelli said that Nova didn’t have the best feel of his breaking pitches due to the cold, but got things done regardless.
“Every time he got men in scoring position, he was a pro,” Cervelli said. “It was really cold today, so my pitcher didn’t have 100 feeling with the ball, but he just got the job done.”
“Ivan made pitches,” Hurdle added. “I thought he had a real nice two-seamer today. The location was good.”
Nova ended up throwing 93 pitches, 56 of them for strikes. He had just four three-ball counts and did not walk a batter.
CUTCH BOUNCE-BACK
Andrew McCutchen snapped an 0 for 9 skid to start the season by raking in three singles and two RBIs. After facing two top-of-the-league starters in Rick Porcello and Chris Sale in Boston, McCutchen said he saw many more good pitches to hit against Mike Foltynewicz and the Braves’ bullpen.
“I’m just ready to hit,” he said. “I got pitches to hit today, and more times than not when I swung I made contact. So that’s the only difference. I think that’s the main reason why it looks like I’m more aggressive.”
“Andrew’s a good hitter,” Hurdle said. “Andrew’s ready to hit in the box. He got some balls he thought he could barrel and swung, I thought, very aggressively. He worked in the zone aggressively. Good visuals at the plate, good looks at pitches. It was a good day in the box for him.”
NOTES
David Freese left the game after taking a one-hopper to the chest at third base. He is day-to-day. … Starling Marte was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and was hit by a pitch hitting leadoff. … Felipe Rivero pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and Tony Watson pitched a scoreless ninth inning. … Attendance was 36,484.
