The sight of Austin Meadows' bat making contact with the ball caused his family members to gasp and quickly rise from their seats at PNC Park on Friday night. When the ball rolled past Padres second baseman Carlos Asuaje and into right-center field, they jumped to their feet to celebrate his first hit in his major-league debut.
Meadows celebrated with first-base coach Kimera Bartee, and stole second base moments later. The 23-year-old outfielder added another single in the sixth inning, although he was stranded there. Meadows, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day when Starling Marte was placed on the 10-day disabled list, went 2 for 4 and recorded two putouts in center field.
His long-awaited debut offered glimpses of the talent that made him one of the top prospects in baseball one year ago; however, the absence of Marte forced Clint Hurdle to shuffle his lineup and the offense flatlined in a 3-2 loss to the Padres.
The Pirates, now 26-17 and 1/2 game back of the Brewers for first place in the Central Division, went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13, including eight in the final three innings.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO"It’s going to happen, but every time it does happen every single person kicks themselves when they have the opportunity," Corey Dickerson said. "You want every opportunity. You want to succeed every time you go up there. Sometimes it’s tough. When you have a plan and you don’t execute it or if you go up there and don’t have a plan at all, it’s tough. It’s always tough."
With Marte on the disabled list and Francisco Cervelli out because of a swollen right ring finger, Hurdle moved Dickerson from fifth to third in the order and Colin Moran, who did not start the previous two games, from seventh to fifth. Dickerson, a 28-year-old with experience batting first through eighth in the order, went 2 for 5 with an RBI single in the third inning.
Dickerson, the Pirates' leader in doubles (14) and RBIs (29), led off the ninth inning with a fly ball to left that dropped in front of Franmil Reyes, and Dickerson stretched the base hit into a double:
Josh Bell and Sean Rodriguez, pinch-hitting for Moran with left-handed closer Brad Hand on the mound, both struck out. Elias Diaz then grounded out to second to end the game. The Pirates used two infield singles and a walk to load the bases in the eighth inning, only for Hand to get Gregory Polanco to roll over on a slider out of the zone to end the inning:
It was one of the few times this season the Pirates were unable to capitalize with runners on base. They have the second-highest scoring offense in the National League and rank second in batting average with runners in scoring position (.269). Starting pitchers for the Padres (18-28), meanwhile, have combined for the second-highest ERA in the NL.
Right-hander Tyson Ross allowed only two runs on five hits over six innings, despite walking four batters. Bell gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the first with a well-struck ball off the wall in left, yet the 12-mph wind blowing from left to right field likely cost him a home run.
The wind may have cost Meadows a home run, too. He connected on a ball with an exit velocity of 101.4 mph in the eighth inning, only for it to be caught at the wall in center by Travis Jankowski, and the rookie also flied out to the warning track in his first big-league at-bat. Jordy Mercer lined out to left on a ball that seemed to hang in the air long enough for Franchy Cordero to make the catch.
"I feel like the wind kind of killed us tonight," Bell said. "Frazier’s, Mercer’s, Meadows’ balls. I think my ball would have left, too. It’s just a different ballgame. It just wasn’t our day."
The Pirates led 2-0 after Dickerson's RBI double in the third, but the Padres scored two runs on Ivan Nova in the fourth and another in the sixth to take the lead. Nova, making his 10th start of the season, allowed two earned runs and six hits with four strikeouts over six innings. He induced two double plays and needed only 72 pitches through five innings.
Then, Eric Hosmer doubled to left on a check swing with two outs in the sixth and Cordero singled for the go-ahead run. It was only the third time this season the Pirates lost despite outhitting their opponent. Five different players had at least one hit and Adam Frazier, the leadoff batter, walked three times. Moran, though, went 0 for 3 with runners in scoring position and Diaz was hitless in five at-bats.
Marte was batting .308/.366/.503 prior to suffering a strained right oblique in a win Tuesday night, and Cervelli has a .973 OPS with 21 RBIs. Although Hurdle said Cervelli could start Saturday against the Padres, the Pirates' manager will face another challenge trying to draw up a lineup without Marte, even if Meadows continues to show he may be ready for the major leagues after all.
"We kept pushing to get out there," Hurdle said. "What were we …13 [stranded] out there? We kept pushing to get out there. Guys kept working the at-bats. We missed that elusive big hit tonight. Give them some credit, they made the pitches and got the outs when they needed it.”
1. Meadows flashes potential in debut.
Meadows won't be in the major leagues for long. Hurdle told reporters before Friday's game the Pirates don't anticipate Marte will be out long-term. The team will also need to open up roster spots for Josh Harrison, Joe Musgrove and Nick Kingham, who will make a spot start against the Padres Saturday.
With Meadows in need of everyday at-bats, he'd likely benefit from going back to Triple-A, as opposed to staying in a bench role in the majors. He made the most of his first opportunity, beginning with his single in his second big-league at-bat in the fourth inning:
Meadows, who stole 27 of 33 bases at Triple-A over the past two years, stole second base moments later, although he was stranded there when Nova grounded out. He then almost tied the game in the eighth inning, driving a two-seam fastball from Padres reliever Craig Stammen to the warning track in center.
"I thought he managed his at-bats well," Hurdle said. "I thought he laid off pitches that were out of the zone. I thought he got his swing off. Wasn’t pushed on defense at all. Did a nice job. Got a nice jump, stole a base. Very good debut.”
His parents, Staci and Kenny, will take home three baseballs from their son's debut, including the one that rolled into right-center. It was yet another memorable debut by a Pirates prospect, and he didn't even have nerves when stepping to the plate the first time:
2. More bad luck for Nova.
The check swing by Hosmer prevented Nova from pitching a scoreless sixth inning and from completing what Ray Searage calls a "Pirates quality start," which is seven innings without allowing more than three runs. Nova threw 58 of his 88 pitches for strikes and didn't allow the type of hard contact that cost him against the Nationals and White Sox earlier this month.
He had command of all four of his pitches, but he allowed two doubles to Hosmer and dropped a ball at first base in the fourth to allow a runner to take third base. Following the error, Nova retired seven consecutive batters before Hosmer hit the two-out check-swing double.
"I said it the last time I pitched, I feel like I’m heading in the right direction and today was another good day," Nova said.
The right-hander has a 4.79 ERA, allowing 66 hits in 56 1/3 innings this season. He also has 43 strikeouts to eight walks with a respectable 1.31 WHIP. Bad luck has seemed to follow Nova this season, yet more often than not he's kept the Pirates in position to win.
"He’s had situations to play a little defense to help himself out the last three starts as well and that hasn’t worked out," Hurdle said. "Check-swing double from a big hitter like that, you still have an opportunity. He’s a grown, grown man that’s leading this staff and he’s handled adversity well. He’s handled the success he’s had well. It’s a long season. Things have a way of taking care of themselves when you go out there and you’re playing the game and pitching or whatever you’re doing. You just keep doing it. The game will take care of you.”
3. Frazier trying to state his case.
The Pirates will have two roster moves to make with Harrison and Musgrove returning soon. Max Moroff is likely to be demoted when Kingham is recalled for the spot start, and Kingham is likely to return to Triple-A Indianapolis as early as Sunday.
So, who will go down when Musgrove is ready to rejoin the rotation? Frazier appeared to be a candidate. After all, he was batting .229/.288/.330 entering Friday and has been replaced by Sean Rodriguez late in games because of concerns over his defense.
However, Frazier showed Friday why his bat belongs in the major leagues. The 26-year-old walked in three of his five plate appearances and scored twice. He also helped convert double plays in the first and third innings. On the other hand, he bobbled a ground ball from Raffy Lopez in the fourth inning, which prevented him from converting what could have been an inning-ending double play.
The Pirates need him to start contributing at the plate, especially if he's needed in center field with Marte out. Keeping Frazier around could allow the Pirates to send Meadows back to Triple-A next week while keeping Jose Osuna on the roster in a bench role.
But Frazier also needs to show he's a reliable defender in order to stick around.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Padres, PNC Park, May 18, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS