Clint Hurdle told Felipe Vázquez the plan as soon as the Pirates' closer reached the dugout. "He basically said, 'If we get up. you’re going in,' " Vázquez recalled afterward. "I’m his guy. He's not going to take any chances if we're up."
Vázquez needed 20 pitches to get two outs after his setup man, George Kontos, allowed the tying run in the eighth inning; however, Hurdle wasn't going to let another lead slip away.
The Pirates, with the help of some savvy baserunning by Josh Bell and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, regained the lead in the eighth, and Vázquez retired the side in order in the ninth to clinch a 6-5 victory over the Giants on Saturday night at PNC Park. It was the second time in eight days Vázquez was asked to get five outs, pushing the Pirates' winning streak to five and moved them into a tie with the Cardinals for first place in the Central Division.
Hurdle, though, doesn't want to make a habit of using his closer for more than one inning, and he plans to have a conversation with Kontos after his latest underwhelming performance on the mound.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO"That’s the fun part, and he might not be able to pitch tomorrow, and this isn’t something you can do all the time," Hurdle said of Vázquez, raising his voice. "When do you go to him for five outs? ... You don’t ask him to do this a lot. ... We have some guys we hope that want to solidify and take some sequences off his plate. Four outs, you’re a little more comfortable doing, but he’s got that ability. It’s a weapon to have in today’s game, no doubt."
The Pirates, now 23-16, secured a series win over Andrew McCutchen's new team. They used eight hits, including home runs by Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli, to take a 5-3 lead into the seventh inning before the bullpen allowed two runs.
Michael Feliz, the Pirates' primary reliever in the seventh inning, who averages 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings, gave up a one-out single to McCutchen, followed by an RBI single to Brandon Belt to make it a one-run game. Then, Kontos, a 32-year-old right-hander the Pirates claimed off waivers from the Giants last August, entered in the eighth and gave up a one-out single to Alen Hanson.
Austin Jackson, the Giants' No. 8 hitter with a .222 average, stepped to the plate and took the first pitch for a ball. Kontos followed with a cutter up and in for a called first strike. Francisco Cervelli set his glove up on the outer edge, only for Kontos to throw another cutter high and inside.
The result:
That's a double off the base of the wall in left, and Hanson, a former Baseball America top-100 prospect in the Pirates' system, scored all the way from first to tie the score. It was the final pitch of Kontos' 19th outing this season. He's now allowed 20 hits in 17 2/3 innings with five walks to only seven strikeouts.
Kontos has succeeded in the past by relying on his cutter and slider while moving the ball around the zone. Opponents are making contact in the zone against him 89.3 percent of the time — an increase of more than 11 percent from last season — and his average exit velocity is up to 90.9 mph. Additionally, opponents are batting .381 against his slider, and his average velocity has dropped at least 1 mph on each of his pitches.
Kontos had little experience in high-leverage situations prior to joining the Pirates, and he succeeded in an eighth-inning role in 14 2/3 innings with them last season. Yet, he's had only four outings this season without a hit or walk allowed.
"I think usually when I have those difficult innings is when I fall behind in the count," Kontos said. "Sometimes I try to get too fine instead of just firing your pitches with conviction." Kontos's first-pitch strike percentage is down only three percent. He then explained how he can "get a little bit rushed," which causes his arm to drag and for him to miss pitches up in the zone.
So, what can cause that?
"There’s a lot of things: adrenaline, having a guy on base and trying to be too quick," Kontos said. Opponents have an .808 OPS against him with runners on base. Hurdle described Kontos' outing Friday as "much better," but he still hit a batter and allowed a single in a six-run game.
"There’s some things we’re talking about," Hurdle said of Kontos. "Last night I thought it was much better. Tonight there’s some things we want to talk to him about we think he can do better. He’s a competitor. He doesn’t like giving up runs. I think it’s something I’m not ready to share here. We’re going to talk about it. We’ve had some conversation. I thought he made a really good step forward last night. Tonight it wasn’t quite the same."
Vázquez, on the other hand, has continued to excel in his high-leverage role. A 10-pitch at-bat to Gorkys Hernandez in the eighth ended with a walk, but he struck out Kelby Tomlinson and got McCutchen to ground out and strand two runners on base. Vázquez, named the Pirates' closer 11 months ago, has a 2.70 ERA with 18 strikeouts to seven walks in 16 2/3 innings.
He's led a bullpen that has the second-lowest ERA over the last calendar month and has blown only two saves in the last calendar year. Young relievers such as Feliz are beginning to succeed, and they've stabilized middle relief with the additions of Richard Rodriguez and Kyle Crick.
"I’m a funny guy," Vázquez said, smiling. "I think it’s more fun to pitch under pressure. Pitching the ninth or pitching the eighth, just to pick up the guys. It’s all about winning. That’s why we’re in the bullpen."
He helped secure another unusual win for the Pirates. Bell, facing Tony Watson, led off the eighth inning with an opposite-field double to right-center, and he advanced to third on a ground out by Corey Dickerson. The Giants (19-21) then intentionally walked Cervelli to face David Freese with one out.
Freese hit a sharp grounder to Evan Longoria, who nearly tagged out Bell at third, but Bell dodged the tag and every runner was safe, loading the bases with one out. Watson then hit Jordy Mercer with a pitch on the left thigh to give the Pirates a go-ahead run.
The Pirates have now scored 42 runs during their winning streak and received six innings from Chad Kuhl; however, a troubling trend in the bullpen nearly cost them again.
"We pick up each other," Vázquez said. "In any situation most of the guys are trying to come out and do the same thing I did today."
1. Bell deserves credit for the rally and helping Vázquez close the door.
Hurdle didn't want to hear a reporter compare Bell's baserunning play to some of Josh Harrison's finest work. After all, Harrison has faced far more challenging situations and somehow finds a way to reach the base safely. Bell, though, deserves credit for responding quickly to some bad luck:
Bell was caught taking a secondary lead from third base with Freese at the plate. The ball was hit right to Longoria and rather than panicking, he found a way to avoid the tag. It allowed Freese to reach safely, loading the bases for Mercer in the eighth inning.
"I wasn’t going to get tagged easily," Bell said proudly. "J-Hay told me I took a page out of his book."
The Pirates have worked to improve their secondary leads at third base to avoid such situations, although Hurdle defended Bell's actions, saying sometimes there is "no defense" for such a play. Instead, he called Bell's stutter-step to the right a "heads-up play."
Bell, who went 2 for 3, scored on the hit-by-pitch and then made an excellent sliding stop at first base in the ninth inning. With one out, Brandon Belt hit a sharp one-hopper down the first-base line and Bell made a slide to collect the ball before throwing it to Vázquez at first base for the second out.
Vázquez then got Longoria to ground out to third to end the game.
2. Kuhl hit hard ... then keeps the score tied.
Despite not having command of his fastball, Kuhl used his breaking pitches to throw seven scoreless innings against the Brewers last weekend. He didn't get away with shoddy fastball command against the Giants.
Longoria hit an elevated sinker 414 feet to left-center for a solo home run in the second inning. Two batters later, Hanson hit a four-seamer over the Clemente Wall to tie the score in the third. Kuhl then allowed a third run in the third inning after McCutchen's leadoff double.
Kuhl, though, retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced to keep the score tied, and the Pirates took a two-run lead in the bottom of the sixth with Cervelli's home run. He threw 52 of his 90 pitches for strikes, relying on his sinker to induce weak contact against a lineup that features two former National League MVPs. The Pirates were forced to use six relievers in Friday night's win because Jameson Taillon left the game early with a finger laceration.
Kuhl helped preserve the bullpen for the final game of the series, and the Pirates have now won four of his last five starts.
"I think I just executed pitches better, whether it was my fastball or breaking pitches," Kuhl said. "I felt like I was struggling with a little bit of location, so I fell back into trying to enhance things and trying to make them perfect. Ended up burning a bunch of bullets. Got back to what I was doing against Milwaukee. Attacking the zone, there’s good off-speed, good breaking balls. Good heaters."
Kuhl has a team-high 42 strikeouts to 16 walks, although he's allowed a team-high nine home runs. He responded from his rough first three innings to retire 12 batters on three pitches or less, and he had only five three-ball counts.
"He put a foot down," Hurdle said. "I was very proud of his effort to get us through the sixth. He got on a roll."
3. A formidable outfield.
Polanco, Marte and Dickerson have combined for the fourth-highest ultimate zone rating among National League outfields. Marte and Dickerson are among the league leaders in outs above average, and Dickerson is tied for third among major-league outfielders in defensive runs saved.
They also make baserunners think twice about taking an additional base. The Pirates are tied for first in the majors with nine outfield assists — Marte and Dickerson are tied for the league lead with four apiece — and the Giants were unwilling to test both in the third inning.
With runners on first and second, Belt flied out to deep left field. McCutchen thought about tagging to try to take third base; however, Dickerson's precise throw forced McCutchen to retreat to second. Then, with McCutchen on third after a single by Longoria, Crawford flied out to center.
McCutchen acted as if he wanted to test Marte's arm, but Marte's throw home forced McCutchen to again retreat to the base.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Giants, PNC Park, May 12, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS