Williams pitches Pirates by Brewers

When the ball left the end of Eric Sogard's bat in the eighth inning, Josh Harrison had no doubt he'd be able to make a play up the middle. There wasn't one to be made, though. Instead, the ball went off the webbing of Kyle Crick's glove and deflected towards the right side of the infield.

Harrison immediately changed his direction towards the slow-rolling ball, grabbed it with his right hand and made a diving throw to first for the second out. "Those tight ones like that you want to make all the defensively plays because, as it showed tonight, one hit can win it," Harrison said following the Pirates' 1-0 win over the first-place Brewers on Monday night at PNC Park.

Jordy Mercer's double down the third-base line off Brewers reliever Josh Hader that scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, improving the Pirates to .500, 36-36, and six games back in the Central Division. However, it was a breakthrough from Trevor Williams that was at the center of what Mercer described as the "ultimate game."

"Defensively, I think we played the best game we have all year," Mercer said. "Trevor threw a lot of strikes, got early swings, kept us in the game and on our toes. Complete, all-around effort. That’s the main thing we were talking about on the bench. This is probably the most complete game we’ve played all year."

Williams allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, striking out seven with two walks and a hit batter. It was in stark contrast to his previous five starts. The 26-year-old had a 8.57 ERA in that span, allowing 30 hits and 20 earned runs in 21 innings. He pitched four or fewer innings in three of his last four starts and told reporters following his previous outing — which included a six-run first inning for the Diamondbacks in Phoenix — he was unsure what was at the root of his struggles.

Williams found a solution similar to one used by two of his fellow starters: Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl. Williams doesn't have overpowering breaking pitches, so he's succeeded in the majors by locating his sinker and four-seam fastball to all four parts of the strike zone.

An ability to command both pitches make his slider and changeup difficult to hit. However, Williams noticed his sinker — which he threw 21.4 percent of the time — had a .284 opponents' batting average. On the other hand, his four-seamer held opponents to a .234 average. Like Taillon and Kuhl, Williams decided to start throwing his four-seamer more often.

The result was his best start of the season. Fifty-one of his 96 pitches were four-seam fastballs, and the pitch produced 12 called strikes with nine balls in play. He leaned on the pitch over the first two innings, and an ability to throw it all over the strike zone set up his breaking pitches.

"What a fine performance," Clint Hurdle said.

That recipe got him out of the one jam he encountered in the fourth inning. Williams walked Hernan Perez with two outs and Jonathan Villar followed with a single to shallow center. Then, facing a 1-2 count to catcher Erik Kratz after throwing two four-seamers, Williams used this slider low and away for a called strike three:

"You have to adapt to how teams are hitting you and what pitch they’re hitting the most," Williams said. "You have to adapt and overcome. Tonight we were sticking to our strengths. The sinker was there when we needed it to be, but we pitched the four-seam to all four corners tonight." 

Williams retired the next nine batters he faced, striking out three to complete his first scoreless outing since May 15. He threw 61 strikes and averaged a little over 13 pitches per inning following the second. Also, he held the top four hitters in the lineup — Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich, Ryan Braun and Eric Thames — to a combined 0 for 11 with four strikeouts.

"He just kept stepping on and off the gas, so it’s what we’ve seen form him before," Hurdle said. "We’ve seen it before."

Also, Williams fixed a mechanical flaw in his delivery. After throwing in the bullpen and watching film, he noticed he was drifting to the right of the mound. He was pushing his stomach out during his delivery, which caused his right arm to drag a little. That negatively impacted his fastball command.

With better fastball command, Williams was able to limit hard contact — only two balls had an exit velocity over 100 mph, per Statcast — and his defense was able to cleanup any mistakes he made. Williams threw an elevated four-seam fastball to Orlando Arcia in the third, but Gregory Polanco was able to track down a hard-hit line drive to right.

"First of all, it starts with the pitcher," Mercer said. "He has good rhythm, he throws strikes, keeps us on our toes and I think the innings go by quickly and we’re ready to go. We’re making plays. We’re feeding off each other."

And his offense finally delivered against Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin. The Pirates could not capitalize after having the leadoff batter reach in the first, second and fifth innings. Colin Moran led off the seventh with a single, and Francisco Cervelli drew a walk after Moran was thrown out trying to steal second.

Josh Bell singled to right-center and the Brewers turned to lefty reliever Josh Hader, who had yet to allow an inherited runner to score this season. Hader struck out Polanco and threw a first-pitch four-seamer inside to Mercer for a called strike.

Hader didn't get away with the same pitch twice. He threw another fastball in the same location, and Mercer pulled it down the line to score Cervelli for a 1-0 lead:

"That guy is tough to hit; loved it," Hurdle said. "You gotta get your foot down, get your swing off on that guy. ... Jordy has shown the ability to drive in runs and get big hits. He did it again tonight. What a baseball game to break out."

Crick took the mound in the eighth, and he was bailed out by Harrison with this spectacular play to prevent Sogard from reaching safely:

Felipe Vazquez then pitched the ninth and struck out two batters after allowing a leadoff single to Yelich. With a 2-2 count, Perez struck a hard grounder to first that Bell snagged, and Bell touched first for the final out. It was the Pirates' third win in their past four games, and they now own a 3-1 record against the Brewers this season.

What Williams described as the most challenging time in his career coincided with the Pirates' slide. It was an encouraging step for him and everyone else involved, however, they know how success can be fleeting.

"The beautiful thing about big-league baseball, the longer you’re in the big leagues I’m going to go through a rough stretch again," Williams said. "It’s about adapting and overcoming that and trusting your abilities and staying confident through it. I’ve learned a lot about my self as a baseball player and a person. I know I’m not done. We’re not finished as a team. It’s June 18 it is. There’s going to be ebbs and flows."

1. A quick, forgettable performance capped by Mercer.

The Pirates' offense faced only 98 pitches over eight innings — averaging a little over 12 pitches per inning — against Chacin, Hader and Jacob Barnes. That's a terrible pace regardless of the opponent, but this was a difficult pitching matchup. Chacin was 6-1 and has a 3.18 ERA in 16 starts. Hader has a 1.16 ERA with 77 strikeouts to 16 walks and will likely pitch in the All-Star game. Plus, Barnes has a 1.91 ERA in 28 1/3 innings.

The Brewers have the third-best bullpen ERA in the majors. That said, the Pirates didn't make it difficult on Chacin at times. The right-hander retired 12 of 14 before the seventh inning and Harrison's lineout to left in the third was the only hard-hit ball during that span.

"There wasn’t a whole lot going on for us," Hurdle said. "We had some opportunities. We did get to hit with runners in scoring position a handful of times, but it was just a well-pitched game on both sides."

Hurdle admitted he thought one run would be enough to win and Mercer delivered. The 31-year-old shortstop has quietly been the Pirates' most consistent offensive threat during this month-long skid. Entering Monday, Mercer had batted .306 with a .890 OPS in his 32 games since May 6, and he has a .860 OPS over the past 30 days.

Hader had held right-handers to a 1.07 average this season and had allowed only one double all season. Yet, Mercer delivered a hit when the Pirates desperately needed one.

"He's going to come right after you and try to get that strikeout," Mercer said of Hader. "You just have to be ready to hit from pitch one and hopefully you get some good wood on it. ... He threw back-to-back fastballs inside, and I was able to keep my hands through and shoot it down the line."

2. Polanco isn't the problem.

Polanco isn't the Pirates' problem. Sure, his foot came off the bag at second in the fifth inning, resulting in a caught stealing after he led off with a four-pitch walk. He's batting only .214 this season with a team-high 61 strikeouts strikeouts. However, it's time to take a closer look at the four-man outfield, and the results over the past three weeks may surprise you.

Entering Monday, Meadows had batted .245 with four RBIs and a .683 OPS in 14 games since May 31. For context, the league average OPS is .722. On the other hand, Polanco has batted .256 with 11 RBIs and a .831 OPS in 14 games during that span. Yet, Polanco has drawn the ire of the fan base.

Some of that is deserved, including his decision to not run out a ground ball in Phoenix last week. But it's important to keep the Pirates' struggles in perspective. Their bullpen has a 5.73 ERA since May 18, starting pitching as been mostly unpredictable and the entire lineup has struggled at times.

Yes, Polanco's batting average is ugly, but Bell also has a .707 OPS, which is lower than Mercer's. That may be the biggest disappointment through the first half of the season. It was unreasonable to expect Cervelli, Dickerson and Marte to carry this offense.

The Pirates need more throughout the lineup, and Polanco's recent upswing — he's reached base safely in six of his last seven plate appearances — is an encouraging sign.

3. Osuna likely won't be up for long.

Jose Osuna is a short-term solution to a season-long problem. The Pirates haven't received enough production from their backup middle infielders. Adam Frazier batted .237 in 135 at-bats before he was demoted, and he's only three for 25 since returning to Triple-A. Sean Rodriguez, meanwhile, has a .159 average with 40 strikeouts in 107 at-bats.

So, rather than call up another infielder, the Pirates chose to bring back Osuna with the Brewers expected to start a lefty Wednesday. Osuna provides a potential high-upside bench bat who could serve as a defensive replacement forBell or as a starter against a lefty. However, he's not needed in right field and David Freese is the backup at third base.

Simply put, he doesn't have a spot on this roster. The problem, though, is there wasn't anyone worth calling up at the moment. Max Moroff has performed well as of late, but he's learning left field and the Pirates seem to want him to get more at-bats in Triple-A. Frazier won't be eligible to be recalled until Thursday and Jung Ho Kang has only four hits in 22 at-bats.

Plus, Huntington told reporters Sunday that neither Kevin Newman nor Kevin Kramer are ready to contribute in a bench role. Also, the Pirates don't intend to use statistics as a gauge of Kang's readiness. They want to see more quality, consistent at-bats, which will likely come with time.

Osuna is likely filling the spot until Frazier or Kang are ready.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY