Baseball remains perhaps the most complex game in major sports. You know, round ball, cylindrical bat, no time limit, a game of strategy and of inches and split seconds, etc.
But it doesn't have to be that difficult.
Sometimes keeping it simple is the best strategy. It certainly was for the Pirates on Saturday.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO"They say you pitch, you play defense, you hit," Josh Harrison was saying, "You got a good chance of winning."
Well, the Pirates checked off all the proverbial boxes in their 6-2 win Saturday over the Reds in front of 27,479 at PNC Park, the largest non-Opening day or non-McCutchen-aided crowd this season.
It was their third straight win, the first time they've done that since May 15-17 and it clinched their first series win since taking two from the White Sox, also during that streak. That was when they were 25-17 and a season-high eight games above .500.
Things have changed since.
That the Pirates' latest win streak has come at the hands of the Reds, the only team behind them in the NL Central standings, is of little consequence. After the past month, the Pirates -- back to .500 (35-35) for the first time in eight days -- will gladly take any wins they can get.
“If somebody would have told me you’re going to lose eight series, you’d think you’re going to be horrible," Clint Hurdle was saying. "We’re not horrible. We’re fighting. And we believe that our best baseball is in front of us."
If that is the case, the Pirates might want to use Saturday afternoon's game as a foundation.
Though far from perfect, the Pirates did some good, technically sound things. Mostly, though, they battled.
It started in the first inning when, with runners at second and third after Josh Harrison led off with a single and Austin Meadows doubled, Starling Marte didn't swing for the fences. Wisely, the right-handed hitting Marte grounded out to the right side of the infield allowing Harrison to score easily from third with the opening run.
And though it didn't yield a run, it continued in the second when -- gasp! -- Ivan Nova laid down a sac bunt that moved Jordy Mercer into scoring position. It was the pitcher's first sacrifice since August 15, 2017. He's still looking for his first hit since May 30 of last year but, hey. He's gone 52 at-bats without a hit but he's paid to pitch and he did that well enough.
Nova gave up one run on five hits, striking out three, over six innings. And he did it using primarily just three pitches. With his curveball ineffective, he relied on his four-seam fastball, sinker and changeup.
"I made pitches when I needed to and i was lucky enough to get us outs," Nova said.
It was Nova's second straight win since coming off the DL with a sprained right ring finger. The common thread between the starts, Hurdle surmised, was that Nova was able to eliminate hitters quickly, retiring 11 Cincinnati batters on three or less pitches. Nova also had good command of his fastball and elevated it as need be.
Fielding his position remains an adventure for Nova though. In the fourth inning, with two on and two out, losing pitcher Luis Castillo dribbled a ground ball to the first base side that Josh Bell tossed with his glove hand to Nova covering first. Naturally, the ball hit off Nova's hand and went for his MLB-leading fourth error of the season. Unlike past starts where it might have caused him to unravel, Nova was able to bear down and get light-hitting Billy Hamilton to ground out to end the threat.
"We need to tighten up," Hurdle said. "It was good that he was able to pitch over it and around it, no doubt.”
Here was Nova's explanation when I asked:
After Nova exited, Steven Brault threw two scoreless innings, allowing just one runner to reach base on a walk. In a non-save situation, Michael Feliz pitched the ninth, allowing a lead-off home run to pinch-hitter Brandon Dixon, the first of his career.
Fortunately for Feliz, the Pirates hit plenty of home runs of their own. Three, to be exact.
Elias Diaz hit a solo shot in the third off Castillo, followed by Colin Moran in the fourth. It was Moran's sixth of the season and first since May 22, also against the Reds. Harrison, a Cincinnati native, added this two-run shot to left in the sixth to effectively put the game away:
"I fouled off a slider and I just wanted to stay on the heater and adjust to anything else and he left a pitch up and I put a swing on it," said Harrison, who is now 14-for-38 this season with six RBIs against his hometown team.
It was the seventh time that the Pirates have hit three or more home runs in a game this season and the first since they hit four vs. the Giants on May 11, or before their skid started.
"Hopefully the power’s starting to kick back in a little bit," Hurdle said. "We have been seeing some pitches. We’ve been hitting pitches. Our situational hitting’s been better. Today, we were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position then we got a few hits late. We missed some opportunities also … but we stayed after it. We just need to keep fighting."
1. Catcher conundrum?
Despite recent head and hand injuries, despite a pedestrian June slash line that reads .125/.344/.333, Francisco Cervelli is still the odds-on favorite to represent the Pirates in the MLB All-Star game next month in Washington.
If he does, Cervelli will be the first Pittsburgh catcher to do so since Jason Kendall was selected to the last of his three Midsummer's Classics 18 years ago and would join a short list of Pirates backstops that includes Tony Pena, Manny Sanguillen, Smoky Burgess and, of course, Hank Foiles.
And he'll be very deserving to go. So says Elias Diaz, his backup the past two-plus seasons.
"He deserves to be there," Diaz was telling DKPittsburghSports.com on Saturday. "He's one of the best in batting in the league. He's been fighting for a long time. His dream, every player in the major league dreams of the All-Star Game. He deserves that."
What stands out, according to Diaz -- in addition to the career-high nine home runs -- is Cervelli's work behind the plate. How he calls the game and his relationship with pitchers.
But with the Pirates treading water in the standings (barely) and Cervelli due $11.5 million in 2019, the 32-year-old catcher's three-year stay in Pittsburgh is uncertain after the July 31 trade deadline.
Though dealing a fan favorite wouldn't go over well, the Pirates are clearly comfortable doing so (see McCutchen, Andrew). If a youth movement is under way, catcher is one area where they are particularly deep at with Diaz. And that's not even taking into account Jacob Stallings, who was recalled last week.
In 92 at-bats this season, Diaz has posted a strong .304/.350/.850 with five home runs and has thrown out 8-of-19 would-be base stealers. Here's his solo home run in the fourth inning Saturday:
Diaz says he and Cervelli have a strong personal and professional relationship. Their 13 combined HRs are most in the NL and are the most by a Pittsburgh catching tandem since 2014 (13). The arrangement has worked well as they have brought out the best in each other.
"We push each other a lot every day to be the best," Diaz was telling me.
But could the 27-year-old be ready to carry the load full-time? Stay tuned.
2. Can't spell Meadows without 'D.'
Yes, a pretty compelling argument can be made for Gregory Polanco and his bat staying in the lineup. But I think everyone can agree that Meadows is the better fielder, whether that be in left, center or -- as was the case Saturday -- in right.
Everyone has seen how Meadows can hit. Though not as torrid as when he was was called up, he went 2-for-4 with a double to lift his average to .333 and OPS to .979 on Saturday.
And that might have been the second-most impressive part of the 23-year-old's game as Hurdle was saying:
In the fifth inning, Scott Schebler lofted a mile-high fly ball that he must have thought Meadows was going to catch. Instead it carried and hit high off the Clemente Wall in right. Meadows sold the play and quickly fired to second, holding Schebler to a double that should have been a triple:
After the next batter, Tucker Barnhart, flew out deep to right, Meadows fired a frozen rope to third to again keep Schebler at second.
In the seventh, Jesse Winker hit a drive down the right field line but the kid again came up firing and holding him to a single.
The key, Meadows says, is preparation, especially in an outfield like PNC Park. He said that he and Marte were working on long tosses before the game.
"It can be difficult if you're not prepared," he told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I think a lot of the guys take pride in preparation, BP, knowing where the ball is going to hit and how it's going to play, so anything that comes at you will be in a good spot."
3. Dickerson comes through.
If Cervelli isn't the Pirates' All-Star representative a pretty good case can be made for Corey Dickerson.
One of the four outfielders in Hurdle's rotation, Dickerson has done nothing but impress since coming to Pittsburgh. But in recent weeks, also coinciding with the Pirates' slump, he hadn't been getting extra bases hits or driving in runs.
Dickerson didn't have any RBIs on Saturday but he did have two doubles to lift his season numbers to .309/.344/.811. It was his first extra base hits since June 1.
"I think I've hit the ball decently, not as good as I want to the last couple days, but I hit a few pretty good but if they fell it would be a completely different day," he told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I'm just focusing on on driving the baseball, trying to drive it to the gap."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Reds, PNC Park, June 16, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS