ST. LOUIS — Jameson Taillon stepped off the mound, grabbed the rosin bag and wiped the sweat off his right hand. With two runners on and no outs in the fifth inning, he took a moment to collect his thoughts and turned his focus to the next hitter stepping to the plate.
Francisco Cervelli then crouched behind home plate, Taillon stepped back onto the rubber, and the two began to collaborate to try to escape the jam. Six pitches later, Taillon struck out Yair Muñoz. Five pitches after that, Kolten Wong went down swinging at a slider out of the zone.
Finally, Taillon, on the 20th pitch of the inning, got a groundout to end the threat. It was the only time a Cardinals player would reach second base. Taillon, starting against the Cardinals for the second time in five days, pitched eight scoreless innings to save the struggling bullpen and lead the Pirates to a 4-0 victory Friday night at Busch Stadium.
It was Taillon's best start since his complete game one-hitter against the Reds on April 8 at PNC Park, and the batterymates worked in unison to help the Pirates exact revenge one day after a walk-off loss.
"Second-best game he’s pitched all year," Clint Hurdle said of Taillon afterwards. "The bar was set very high, and he’s worked very hard to get back to this point. ... It was a very powerful, aggressive outing."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOThe Pirates, now 30-27 and 5 1/2 games back of the first-place Brewers in the Central Division, did not have Kyle Crick or Felipe Vazquez available in the bullpen after the latter allowed a three-run walk-off homer one night earlier.
Taillon wanted to repay the bullpen for backing him while he struggled for the better part of a month; however, he had to face the same lineup for the second time in under a week.
The 26-year-old right-hander allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Cardinals last Sunday by using his newly-implemented slider as a "crutch," rather than a complement to his fastballs. Taillon threw as many sliders as four-seam fastballs in that start, and he was only on the mound for two of those three runs allowed.
Taillon wanted to use a different game plan this time. So, he sat down with Cervelli and instructed his catcher that he wanted to switch his pitch sequences. Taillon instructed Cervelli to make changes when necessary if he noticed the Cardinals were catching on to the plan.
"I actually didn’t even look at much information this time," Taillon said. "They were pretty fresh. Cervelli has been back there in the NL Central for a while now. He sees these hitters more than anybody, so my big thing was, 'Let’s let my pitches play off of each other. Let’s sequence my game plan and then if you see anything back there that you think they’re adjusting to or changing, tell me or call the game a certain way.' I trusted him and kind of ran with it."
That trust was important when the Cardinals finally applied pressure in the fifth. Taillon allowed only one base runner through four innings — a one-out walk to Harrison Bader in the first — and he did not give up a hit until the fifth, when Adam Frazier was unable to make a throw to first from his back after diving to stop a grounder from Marcell Ozuna.
Dexter Fowler followed with a line drive single to right when Taillon's four-seam fastball missed the outside corner. That's when Cervelli wanted to slow down Taillon's pace and switch up the game plan. Once Taillon stepped off and back onto the mound, Cervelli called for two sliders to Muñoz, followed by a two-seam fastball, slider and curveball.
Then, Cervelli called for another two-seam fastball, and it was thrown over the outside corner for strike three.
"I kind of just blacked out and focused on executing my pitches," Taillon said with a laugh. "I really don’t know what they were trying to do. ... That’s when I rely on Cervi to see what he sees. He has the best angle."
Cervelli didn't call another four-seam fastball the rest of the inning, relying instead on Taillon's two-seamer and slider. Finally, Francisco Peña rolled over on a slider out of the zone to ground to Jordy Mercer to end the inning. It wasn't all Cervelli's doing.
"I thought between him and Francisco the game plan was followed extremely well," Hurdle said. "He just stayed on the hunt and stayed ahead in a lot of counts."
Taillon pushed and pulled the velocity of his slider, choosing to take off some velocity to Muñoz because he knew the 23-year-old shortstop would be hunting anything that looked like a fastball early in the count. The rest of his 12th start of the season was mostly a breeze. He retired the side in order in the sixth, allowed a one-out infield single in the seventh and retired the side in order in the eighth, although two were hard-hit outs to the outfield.
"This is a good one," Taillon said.
Taillon finished with six strikeouts and only one walk, throwing 67 of his 104 pitches for strikes. It was his third consecutive start pitching through the sixth inning, and he accomplished the feat by throwing first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters he faced. He also retired 10 batters on three pitches or less and produced 15 ground-ball outs, including an inning-ending double play in the first inning. Edgar Santana then pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win.
Meanwhile, Taillon's offense scored two runs off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas to hand him his first loss in 11 starts this season. Frazier, starting at second with Josh Harrison scratched because of flu-like symptoms, went 2 for 4 with two runs. He scored on Josh Bell's sacrifice fly in the third after hitting a one-out double and again in the fifth when he and Cervelli hit back-to-back triples:
The Pirates then added two more runs in the eighth, including an RBI double by Corey Dickerson and a sacrifice fly by Colin Moran. It helped Taillon earn his third win, and he has a 1.16 WHIP through 65 2/3 innings this season. This one, though, meant a little more for all involved after what occurred one night earlier.
"Tonight was a good night to go out there and fight and turn things around," Hurdle said.
1. Scratching across enough runs.
Mikolas, a 29-year-old right-hander who spent the past three years pitching in Japan, had a combined 12 strikeouts to one walk in his two previous starts against the Pirates. He was able to pitch through at least the sixth inning both times by forcing weak contact with his four-seam fastball early in the count.
The Pirates made him labor this time, though. Mikolas threw 19 pitches in the first inning and was at 50 pitches through three. However, the only hard contact he allowed was Cervelli's RBI triple in the fifth. The Pirates were able to do just enough to give Taillon the run support he needed, and they accomplished that with one of the most overlooked plays in baseball: a sacrifice fly.
With Frazer on third in the third inning, Bell drove a ball deep enough to left for a sacrifice fly. Then, with Mikolas out of the game, Colin Moran hit a ball to Dexter Fowler in right field in the eighth inning that was deep enough for Dickerson to tag and score for an insurance run.
The Pirates are successful when they put the ball in play and drive up the starter's pitch count. They've struck out the fewest times in the National League, and they lead the majors with 23 sacrifice flies. To compare, they had only 28 sacrifice flies for the entire 2017 season — the fourth-lowest mark in the majors.
They received contributions throughout the lineup for a second consecutive game with seven different players having at least one hit; however, taking advantage of a runner on base with fewer than two outs can make a difference when facing a starter like Mikolas, who is considered a lock for the All-Star Game.
"It’s always tough, especially depending on the situation and how many outs," Dickerson said of sacrifice flies. "Picking somebody else up, getting that play done and getting a pitch to be able to lift it. Having a plan, being able to execute it. Not hit the ball on the ground. There’s a lot of things that go into it. When you succeed at it, it’s not valued enough."
2. Frazier steps up with Harrison out.
Perhaps the biggest loser in Austin Meadows' ascent is Frazier. The 26-year-old was considered the favorite to be the Pirates' starting left fielder at the onset of spring training, but he was thrust back into a utility role when the club acquired Dickerson from the Rays.
Now, with Harrison back from the disabled list, Frazier's playing time is limited to second base, but his at-bat in the fifth inning showed why he's still a part of the Pirates' long-term plans. In the first inning, Frazier broke his bat when he swung at a four-seam fastball on the hands, resulting in a ground out to lead off the game.
With the count 0-2 in the fifth inning, Mikolas again tried to throw a four-seam fastball inside to Frazier. This time, Frazier shortened his swing to drive the ball down the right-field line for a leadoff triple.
"I had a feeling he was coming in because he broke my bat the first at-bat. That’s where he’s effective, especially going in on lefties. I had a feeling he was coming in there and got just enough of the barrel to it."
Frazier, marred in a 5-for-32 slump entering the game, went 2 for 4 with a double and triple and scored twice. He's slashing only .242/.322/.367 this season, but continues to prove he's still valuable when called upon.
3. Hurdle makes smart lineup move.
Hurdle would rather not sit a player when he's hot at the plate. Meadows leads all National League rookies in batting average (.408) and OPS (1.221) since making his big-league debut on May 18. He's had at least two hits in five of his last seven starts, and he has hit safely in each of his first 11 starts.
He was out of the lineup for a second consecutive day, and Hurdle had a legitimate reason for that decision. Gregory Polanco had three hits in the loss Thursday night and Hurdle wanted to give him the opportunity to build on the performance that snapped an 0-for-22 skid and included the game-tying double off Jordan Hicks in the eighth inning.
"I think it's important," Hurdle said of allowing a player to build off such a performance. "You’ve heard me say it multiple times: nothing breeds confidence like success. Then we have a day game tomorrow. We’ll find time for somebody tomorrow to get a blow. … We’ve been waiting for this kind of game for a while from him, so we want to move upon it. Give him another opportunity to go out there and repeat or reclaim the feeling."
Polanco went 1 for 4 with a double Friday night, and it's clear he's still one of the Pirates "frontline outfielders," as Hurdle put it last week. It's important to remember the Pirates are 14-2 this year when Polanco drives in at least one run. On the other hand, they're 4-10 since Meadows was recalled.
