MIAMI — Corey Dickerson didn't ask for permission with the game on the line. He didn't say a word to his coaches or teammates in the dugout, nor when leaving the on-deck circle. The Pirates' left fielder, carrying an eight-game hitting streak and runners on the corners with one out in the ninth inning, stepped to the plate with the scoreboard still showing all blanks.
And he laid down a bunt on the first pitch.
The ball sailed into the air, past the outstretched glove hand of the Marlins' reliever, Brad Ziegler, and dropped into the infield. Dickerson reached first safely and Starling Marte, standing on third while waiting to see if the ball dropped, sprinted home to score what proved to be the winning run in the 1-0 victory Saturday night at Marlins Park.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGSThe bunt didn't go exactly the way Dickerson planned, but it lifted the Pirates on a night when their offense mustered five hits, and the play embodied the type of selfless identity the club has tried to establish during its 10-4 start.
"To have guys trust you, to have them look at you differently," Dickerson, acquired from the Rays in February, said of the play's importance. "We’ve given ourselves up for the team to get the W. That means a lot for everybody to play together. We really feel that. Our conversations are very close as a team. We feed off one another. It’s cool to play for a team that’s trying to have fun out there. These last two days when we’re not putting anything together it can almost feel like it’s dragging out."
And Dickerson wanted to put an end to it. The Pirates had only two hits before the ninth inning — both by Francisco Cervelli — and Ziegler, a veteran right-hander with a submarine delivery, took the mound to face the heart of the Pirates' order.
After Gregory Polanco grounded out, the left side of the Marlins' infield moved shallower to try to prevent Marte from bunting. Once the count reached 1-1, third baseman Brian Anderson retreated back near the bag. Then, Marte bunted, the ball rolling down the line to allow him to reach easily.
"Heads-up play by Marte," Hurdle would say later.
Josh Bell, in an 0-for-9 slump, stepped to the plate. Marte ran on the second pitch, causing second baseman Starlin Castro to sprint toward the bag, and Bell hit a grounder up the middle that caught Castro out of position. The ball rolled into center for a single and put Marte on third with one out.
The Pirates placed an emphasis on smarter baserunning this season, as the coaching staff encouraged players to make better use of analytics. They attempted a hit-and-run with Adam Frazier on first and Josh Harrison at the plate in the eighth, but Frazier was thrown out at second. Then Harrison struck out.
Hurdle has spoken about being unpredictable, especially on a night such as this. The Pirates had only five hits in a 7-2 loss on Friday and continued to struggle in the second game of this series, despite facing rookie starting pitcher Trevor Richards.
So, Dickerson, who had not completed a sacrifice bunt since he was a rookie with the Rockies in 2013, did this:
Jameson Taillon, standing in the training room after pitching six scoreless innings, began celebrating when the ball dropped. The Pirates' dugout erupted in celebration.
"It takes a lot of ways to win a game, man," Taillon said. "I don’t know. I was excited. You can’t draw that one up."
Dickerson was 0 for 3, although two of those outs were well-struck. He was 15 for 32 in his previous seven games, hitting seven doubles with a triple, one home run and eight RBIs. But Ziegler, an 11-year-veteran, had a ground-ball rate last season that was well above league average.
Dickerson didn't want to risk taking a swing, even if he had been seeing the ball well. With Marte's speed, he thought he only had to put the ball on the ground. The ball didn't go on the ground, though.
"It was about getting the W," Dickerson explained. "I was hitting the ball earlier pretty good and it was going straight to people. ... You kind of get that feel. You've got to change it up and Marte changed it up a little bit by bunting. ... Be selfless, give myself up and we win the ballgame. It was simple as that. I wanted to win. I hate losing. I was trying to do something simple."
When Cervelli grounded into an inning-ending double play, Hurdle asked Dickerson what exactly led him to such a decision. The answer didn't surprise him.
"When I talked to him, he said, ‘Well, Marte is on and all you have to do is get the ball on the ground.’" Hurdle said. "It looked a little bit more refreshing for me if it had gone on the ground initially. That’s his mindset, though. He just wanted to help us win a game. He said if we score a run we win the game, and we bring in [Felipe] Vazquez. He’s got it all figured out. That’s the mentality and the edge he plays with."
It went as Dickerson planned, with Vázquez throwing a perfect ninth inning to secure the win.
The Pirates have scored only three runs on 10 hits in two games, despite facing a rotation that had one of the worst ERAs in the majors entering the series. Taillon, who threw a complete game shutout in his previous start, stretched his scoreless innings streak to 14 and allowed only four hits with three walks. Then, Michael Feliz, George Kontos and Vázquez each pitched a scoreless inning. Last season, a stretch of poor offensive play seemed to linger and would often lead to losses.
The Pirates, now 2 1/2 games ahead of both the Brewers and Cardinals in the Central Division, have won in a variety of ways, and it was their newest player, the one acquired to fill the void left by Andrew McCutchen, who completed this latest dramatic victory.
"We did some things we haven’t had to do a lot of, but we can, to win the game," Hurdle said.
1. Taillon lacked command, but still found a way.
Taillon only had a 0-2 count twice against the Marlins, and he faced a number of three-ball counts. He'd often get ahead of a hitter, only to fall behind once again. For example, his first 0-2 count was to Justin Bour, but Taillon threw four consecutive balls for one of his three walks.
But he made pitches when he needed to, as he explained to me afterward:
It wasn't a dominant start like his previous one against the Reds. In fact, it was the worst Taillon's command has looked all season, including his outings in spring training. But he forced the Marlins to strand two in the second by getting a ground out and striking out Bryan Holaday with a curveball out of the zone.
Then, he got them to strand the bases loaded in the fourth by making Richards hit a weak grounder in front of home plate. Taillon threw 58 of his 93 pitches for strikes — not terrible numbers — but the 26-year-old said this would have been much worse had he experienced such trouble last season.
"I think I said it to Ray [Searage] when I was done, ‘Last year I don’t think I make it a six-inning outing,’" Taillon said. "I don’t think I even make it a five-inning outing. It’s funny to look back at yourself a year later to see where you were, where you’re at. I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot. I kind of just control my emotions better and make pitches when I need to."
That quote is as important as the actual outcome of this game. It speaks to how far Taillon has come and his ability to still find a way to keep the Pirates in a game when he isn't at his best.
2. No cause for concern with the offense.
For a second consecutive night, the Marlins' starting pitcher silenced the Pirates' offense. But Richards did a much better job than Dillon Peters the night before. Richards needed only 82 pitches to throw seven scoreless innings. When he fell behind in the count, he wasn't afraid to throw a changeup for a strike.
His 90 mph fastball was thrown down in the zone, inducing eight ground-ball outs. The Pirates also weren't able to take advantage of his mistakes. They did not have a leadoff batter on base the entire game and stranded only four runners with Richards on the mound. Dickerson explained it was simply one of those games where nothing was working.
"We just weren’t feeding off one another yet," he said. "When one of us hit a ball it got caught. Then we couldn’t get anything going. Once you can’t get anything going it kind of lingers. You have to change something up. You’ve got to start something different. Some nights go like that. I’m glad we found different ways to adjust and finally did something to change it up."
3. Cervelli, Diaz the league's top catching tandem.
If Cervelli and Elias Diaz stay healthy, they could very well be the top catching tandem in the majors this season. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better starter and backup. The two have combined for three home runs and nine RBIs in the first five games of this six-game road trip. Diaz, 27, hit a two-run homer and went 2 for 2 in the Pirates' loss to the Marlins on Friday. He's batting .417 in 13 plate appearances this season.
Cervelli hit a one-out double in the fifth inning off Richards, pulling an outside fastball to left after swinging and missing at the very same pitch moments earlier. He also singled in the seventh inning, lifting his average to .279. Cervelli, 31, ranks second among all catchers in the majors with 10 RBIs.
4. Big mistake by Marlins in the fourth.
The Marlins cost themselves a run in the fourth inning, and it wasn't even one of their inexperienced players who made the error. With runners on first and third, Lewis Brinson hit a grounder to Jordy Mercer, whose throw to first got Brinson easily for the second out. Bour, standing at third, didn't even attempt to score, though.
He stood at third base and the runner on first, JB Shuck, advanced to second. Taillon intentionally walked Bryan Holaday to load the bases before getting the third out with a dribbler in front of home plate.
5. Moran a capable defender with one exception.
Moran struggles defending when he is required to take a few steps to get to a ball. His footwork simply needs attention, and he should improve with more reps in the majors. Sure, he played the position in Triple-A, but the speed of the game at the position is so much different at this level.
He's shown, though, he has the potential to be a very capable defender and that continued Saturday night against the Marlins. Anderson hit a hard grounder to third in the second inning that Moran backhanded and fired a long throw to first to get Anderson by a few feet. Then, Moran made a very similar play in the third inning, but the throw was from even further away as Castro hit a grounder near the chalk.
Moran backhanded the ball and fired a throw to first to end the third inning, stranding a runner on base. The 25-year-old has registered negative-1 defensive runs saved early, but the arm strength is elite. His footwork will determine just how good he'll be at the position.