Pirates' revamped pen secures sweep, first place

It wasn't until Felipe Vázquez stepped on the mound in the ninth inning that Edgar Santana realized he was only three outs away from his first major league win. Vázquez proceeded to close out a 3-2 victory over the White Sox Wednesday afternoon, and Santana, signed by the Pirates only four days before his 22nd birthday in 2013, quickly texted news of the milestone to his mother in the Dominican Republic.

Then, he climbed into a laundry cart inside the clubhouse at PNC Park, assumed the fetal position and was doused with shampoo, mustard, hot sauce, baby powder, orange juice and beer. The "celebration" came after the Pirates' fourth series sweep of the season, and it was the result of Clint Hurdle's first experiment with his reconstructed bullpen.

Santana helped the Pirates escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, and Michael Feliz, the man who organized the melee of people dumping condiments on Santana's head, gave up a two-out single but completed a scoreless eighth inning in his first audition as the setup man.

"Fantastic, yeah," Hurdle said, grinning. "As you go in, the numbers Santana has against left-handed hitters is crazy. That’s hard to do for a right-hander, but he’s making pitches. Feliz, coming in for the first time, that’s why I wanted to give him another hitter. Not just one guy on base and boom. If something happens, I’ve got to wear it. But he needs the opportunity to finish the inning the first time we give it to him. … I liked how both of them were able to step up today."

The Pirates, now 25-17 and in sole possession of first place in the Central Division, have won seven of their last eight games, despite some turbulence in the bullpen. Hurdle announced Tuesday afternoon he was removing George Kontos from a late-inning role, opting instead to use Santana, Feliz, Kyle Crick or Richard Rodriguez in the eighth inning. After all, opponents have an .808 OPS against Kontos with runners on base, and he's allowed 20 hits in 17 2/3 innings with five walks to only seven strikeouts.

The Pirates' 7-0 victory Tuesday night prevented Hurdle from experimenting; however, the opportunity came after Jameson Taillon pitched 5 2/3 innings in the series finale. The White Sox (10-29) loaded the bases with two outs and the score tied in the sixth, leading Hurdle to call upon Santana.

Santana, a 26-year-old right-hander, entered the game with the highest ground-ball rate among Pirates relievers (52.1 percent), and he's allowed only two of his seven inherited runners to score. Also, the White Sox called upon left-hander Daniel Palka as a pinch-hitter, and lefties had only five hits in 33 at-bats against Santana this season.

Santana fell behind 3-1 before he got Palka to roll over on a sinker for the inning-ending ground out:

"One of the things I understand from this game is don’t give too much credit to the guys on base," Santana said afterward. "Focus on the hitter. If I don’t give up a base hit, nobody is going to score. I focus on the batter and make sure I get this guy out."

Although the Pirates also stranded the bases loaded in the sixth, they regained the lead with a pinch-hit RBI single by Josh Bell, putting Santana in line for the win. He then pitched a scoreless seventh inning to lower his ERA to 3.00. He also has a 1.06 WHIP with 16 strikeouts to four walks in 18 innings. More important, he's emerged as the Pirates' most reliable reliever when a ground ball is needed. He needed only 16 pitches to get five ground balls and his only hit allowed was the result of an infield single.

Hurdle then called upon Feliz for his first eighth-inning appearance since Kontos was demoted from the setup role. Feliz, acquired by the Pirates in the Gerrit Cole trade, has a team-low ground-ball rate of 28.3 percent, but he entered the game with 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings and had only been scored upon three times in 19 outings.

The Pirates acquired Feliz with the intent to use him in a late-inning role, yet he was only used in one sparingly during his two-plus seasons in the Astros' bullpen. He was recalled in 2015 as a long reliever and pitched with a lead of fewer than three runs after the sixth inning only four times in his breakout 2016 season. Feliz then struggled in an injury-shortened season in 2017.

Hurdle told reporters Tuesday he did not want to permanently promote Feliz from the seventh to the eighth inning until Feliz becomes more efficient on the mound and effectively used his slider to complement his 96 mph four-seam fastball.

"My fastball is getting better," Feliz told DKPittsburghSports.com. "You can see it. I'm throwing my other pitches, but it's no secret my best pitch is my four-seamer. I look to use my slider for a swing-and-miss pitch for the third strike or when I need a ground ball."

Hurdle didn't pass on that message to Feliz, though. He just told the right-hander to be ready for the eighth, and Feliz responded by striking out Matt Davidson with a 94 mph fastball to lead off the inning. Feliz got a groundout with an inside fastball to Leury Garcia before another fastball over the plate resulted in a two-out single for Omar Navarez.

Rather than calling upon Vázquez for a four-out save, Hurdle chose to leave Feliz in, and he delivered an inning-ending groundout by using a four-seam fastball. That put Vázquez in position to earn his eighth save of the season.

"It wasn’t a real conversation," Feliz said with a laugh. "[Hurdle] said, ‘Hey, you might pitch in the eighth.’ They don’t just want me to think like an eighth-inning or seventh-inning guy. I still get ready in the fifth inning, so I’m good to go when they call me. I got used to that in Houston when they used me whenever."

Taillon, making his ninth start of the season and his first since a finger laceration forced him to leave after only three innings last Friday, allowed a pair of solo home runs and walked three batters with two strikeouts. The Pirates gave him a 2-1 lead with Sean Rodriguez's two-run double in the second inning, but the offense thereafter went hitless until the seventh.

Then, with the score tied and two runners on, Bell hit a fastball from Joaquin Soria to left for the go-ahead run. Once Vázquez got Jose Abreu to ground out to end the game, Feliz poured shampoo on the head of his fellow newly-anointed late-inning reliever. When Tony Watson was demoted as closer last season, Hurdle chose to not name his replacement until both Vázquez and Juan Nicasio pitched in a save situation.

He'll likely use a similar tactic with the eighth inning this season; however, neither Santana nor Feliz seemed to care, as long as they both continue to help stabilize the Pirates' bullpen.

"It was cool," he said. "It was great to see this guy go out there with the bases loaded and get those outs, go out there and get his work done, and then get me the opportunity to get my eighth inning for the first time."

1. "Blue-collar effort" for Taillon

It wasn't certain Taillon would start this game. He threw off flat ground Tuesday to see if the cut on his right middle finger was healed, and Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates' director of sports medicine, told reporters Wednesday morning all involved were confident Taillon could "help the team win."

The team still developed a contingency plan in the event the cut opened back up. Steven Brault threw in the bullpen while Taillon had his warmup tosses before first pitch Wednesday.

"Yeah, that was funny," Taillon said. "I wasn't stoked about it. But I get it. You have to cover all the bases if some freak thing happened where it opened back up."

Taillon's pitches were all over the place in the first inning. He walked the leadoff batter before allowing a two-out single. Then, Garcia led off the second inning with a solo home run to right-center. Taillon settled in, retiring nine of the next 11 batters before allowing another solo home run to Yolmer Sanchez on a hanging changeup.

Taillon got two quick outs in the sixth, but Garcia hit a two-out double and Navarez walked. Then, Adam Engel reached on an infield single when he hit a slow roller to David Freese before Hurdle removed Taillon from the game.

Taillon threw 59 of his 96 pitches for strikes and retired eight batters on three pitches or less. Hurdle called the outing a "blue-collar effort," and Taillon was satisfied, saying he felt "really good."

2. Offense delivers under difficult circumstances.

The Pirates were without Francisco Cervelli for this game and could possibly be without Starling Marte for at least 10 days. Both were injured in a 7-0 win Tuesday night, forcing Hurdle to start Elias Diaz behind home plate and Sean Rodriguez in center field. Also, he chose to sit Bell, Adam Frazier and Colin Moran with a lefty starter on the mound.

Rodriguez, starting only his sixth career game in center, went 1 for 4 with his two-run triple in the second. Diaz, making his 10th start of the season, led off the seventh with a double and scored the go-ahead run on Bell's single.

"It seems like one through nine it doesn’t matter who is in the lineup," Bell said. "We try to find a way to get a W. Everyone who comes out of the pen, everyone who gets an opportunity, call-ups, guys like Sean coming in getting that triple, it’s next man up."

In addition to those contributions from the starters, the Pirates are getting more production from their pinch-hitters. Bell is now 12 for 27 as a pinch-hitter for his career after this single in the seventh:

Although Moran didn't play, he is 3 for 8 as a pinch-hitter. The Pirates' depth has them built to sustain short-term injuries to foundational players such as Marte and Cervelli. The same couldn't be said last season. They finished with only four hits and stranded 10 on base in the series finale, but they secured a much-needed win against an inferior opponent.

"Big confidence boost for the club, for Jameson," Hurdle said.

3. Taking care of bad teams.

Playoff teams take care of inferior opponents, and the Pirates have accomplished that:

They've also won a series at Wrigley Field, swept the Cardinals and won another series at Miller Park. It's fair to criticize the strength of schedule, especially since they were swept by two strong opponents: the Phillies and Nationals. But the Pirates went 6-13 against the Reds last season and were 1-5 against the 64-win Giants.

They'll host the Padres for a four-game series this weekend before traveling to Cincinnati for three games, giving this team a chance to take hold of first place before a difficult June schedule. That's when the true test will come. For now, don't overlook the importance of beating teams like the White Sox.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY