Archer's 'pretty wild, pretty hectic' debut

When the crowd roared and chanted his name, Chris Archer reared back and unleashed his wipeout slider, not once, but twice. After Paul DeJong swung over the second for strike three to strand the bases loaded, Archer twirled off the mound, pounded his chest with his closed right fist and yelled into the night, "Let's Go!"

While that raw, unfiltered emotion helped him pack an extra punch, it also put an abrupt end to his debut at PNC Park. Archer, a two-time All-Star and the prize of the non-waiver trade deadline, gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, allowed each of his five leadoff batters to reach safely and lasted only 4 1/3 innings.

Yet, a 12-hit onslaught by the Pirates' offense, capped by Adam Frazier's go-ahead RBI single in the eighth, resulted in a 7-6 win over the Cardinals in front of an announced crowd of 26,773 Friday night. Although Archer was tagged for four earned runs, he offered fans a brief glimpse of the limitless potential that's made him one of the majors' best over the past five years and did just enough to help improve his new team's record to 57-53.

"The fans were incredible," Archer said afterwards. "I’ve never pitched in an atmosphere like that. ... It was unbelievable."

While Archer was in the spotlight, he didn't want to take attention away from all that went right during the wild victory that pushed the Pirates within 6 1/2 of the first-place Cubs and four games in the Wild Card race. Their six pitchers held the Cardinals (56-54) to 6 for 19 with runners in scoring position, leaving 16 on base. Four different players had at least two hits and five drove in at least one run.

He was the star of the show, though.

Archer had six strikeouts — including two to strand the bases loaded in the second inning — and has the fifth-most strikeouts in the major leagues since June 1, 2013, trailing only Max Scherzer, Chris Sale, Corey Kluber and Clayton Kershaw. A frontline starter, Archer was acquired in the blockbuster of the non-waiver trade deadline that sent Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows and a player to be named later to the Rays.

The 29-year-old right-hander arrived in Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon and discovered shortly before first pitch that fans had already purchased his jersey. His arrival seemed to re-energize a disillusioned fan base, creating a buzz around the city and fortifying a rotation that produced a 2.98 ERA in its previous 18 games. Archer was departing a fourth-place team that's stripped its payroll since the end of last season and was rumored to be shopping him for three years.

He also rarely pitched in front of energetic home crowds in Tampa. "I tried to keep it as similar as possible but the reality is I was a little amped up there in the beginning," Archer said.

His third pitch was hit 406 feet over the wall in right-center field by Matt Carpenter for a solo home run, and he hit the third batter he faced with a 97-mph fastball, only to get a weak pop fly to first base and then strike out Tyler O'Neill with a wipeout, backdoor slider to end the first inning.

"He was able to make pitches when he needed to," Francisco Cervelli said. "His slider, everybody knows how good it is. I think it’s going to be super good."

Archer, who posted a 2.70 ERA with 50 strikeouts in his last eight starts with the Rays, allowed the first three batters to reach in the second, capped by Yairo Muñoz's RBI double to right, and intentionally walked Carpenter to load the bases for Yadier Molina, a future Hall of Famer.

When Archer faced a full count, the crowd's roar began to crescendo, and Molina struck out. The same occurred when he got two strikes on DeJong. That's when he unleashed the slider, striking out DeJong to create a raucous atmosphere in his new home:

"I think you got to see a glimpse of everything," Clint Hurdle said. Archer stranded a runner on third base in the third by striking out Dexter Fowler with a 3-2 slider and got three consecutive outs in the fourth after walking the leadoff batter. Shoddy command, bad luck and a difficult strike zone put an end to his debut, though.

Archer walked the leadoff batter in the fifth, Jordy Mercer committed an error and Starling Marte lost track of a fly ball that resulted in a base hit. Following an RBI single by Jedd Gyorko, Hurdle emerged from the dugout to pull Archer, who received a standing ovation while walking back to the dugout.

"Do I wish I would have done a little bit better? Yeah," Archer said. "All things considered, how hectic everything’s been, for us to pull out a victory on my first game was unbelievable and the fact that 26,000-plus stayed, gave me a standing O even though it wasn’t the greatest performance."

It was his shortest outing since April 14 and the first time he's allowed more than three earned runs since May 12. Edgar Santana allowed a second consecutive RBI single to officially close Archer's outing. He allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits with four walks.

Archer threw 29 pitches in the second inning, 22 in the third and finished with 95, despite getting only one out in the fifth inning. The Pirates were still leading at the end of the top of the fourth, thanks to three-run innings in the first and third.

Gregory Polanco hit a two-run triple in the first, Cervelli and Josh Harrison delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the third. Kyle Crick allowed the tying run in the eighth inning; however, Frazier's third hit, a single off Cardinals flamethrower Jordan Hicks, scored the go-ahead run.

Felipe Vazquez then closed out the win for his 25th save — a single-season club record for a lefty — to cap a rollercoaster nine innings that lasted three hours and 34 minutes. Archer won over Pirates fans more than 48 hours before throwing his first pitch by wearing an Antonio Brown jersey to his first day at work, choosing No. 24 over 22 out of "respect" for Andrew McCutchen, and gushing over the "blue collar city."

Although he wasn't satisfied with his first impression on the mound, he was savoring his first taste of meaningful baseball in his new ballpark and expressed hope that better results will come now that his emotional debut has passed. "Pretty wild, pretty hectic," Archer said. "I can say this, I’ll be able to slow the game down a lot better next outing than I was today. Having all those 24 jerseys and the black and gold and everybody behind me was incredible."

1. Speaking of sliders ...

Vazquez' slider disappeared when he blew four of five save opportunities earlier this season. He was behind in the count so often that his trademark breaking pitch was kept in his back pocket since he relied on his overwhelming fastball to get back into the count. If the Cardinals forgot it existed, they were given a stern reminder Friday, and DeJong was victimized worse than any of the four batters Vazquez faced.

After throwing back-to-back 99-mph fastballs, Vazquez threw his signature pitch for a swinging strike three to get the second out of the ninth inning. "He wasn't going to hit that," Vazquez said afterwards. It was as if Vazquez had a little extra juice when he stepped on the mound. Maybe it was the memory of his last outing against the Cardinals, when he gave up a walk-off grand slam to Muñoz at Busch Stadium. Or perhaps it was the arrival of Keone Kela, the reliever acquired at the deadline who saved 24 games for the Rangers this season.

Vazquez said that wasn't the case. Instead, he just wanted to execute each of those overwhelming pitches in his arsenal. “No. No way. I just need to be myself, make my pitches. That’s all.”

2. Huntington addressed needs ... but there's more to fix.

It was an ugly night for the bullpen, despite the photo finish by Vazquez. By acquiring Kela, Huntington addressed some of the Pirates' issues. Kela, only 25 and under contract for two more years beyond this playoff chase, can provide Hurdle with another electric arm to add to an already formidable back end. As Kela showed Friday night, Hurdle's not afraid to use him in any situation.

With the Pirates clinging to a one-run lead, Kela entered and allowed a one-out double to Carpenter, only to escape the seventh unscathed after Polanco's incredible throw home to gun down Carpenter and this 12-6 curveball to strike out Molina:

“I just wanted to make my pitches, not think about too much. I knew if I did my job, we could get the ball to the Nightmare, and that’d be it," Kela said, motioning over to Vazquez.

Yet, he wasn't all that sharp — although home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale's unpredictable strike zone didn't help — and neither was the rest of the bullpen, aside from Richard Rodriguez and Vazquez. Santana allowed three hits for only the second time this season, and Crick was tagged for the tying run in the eighth after hitting the leadoff batter.

Santana, Crick and Kela aren't the issue. Instead, the addition of Kela can give Hurdle more options in a game like this. The problem is going to be middle relief. With Steven Brault headed back to Triple-A, the Pirates have only one lefty on the entire pitching staff: Vazquez. The only long man is Alex McRae, a starting pitcher who had a 1.60 WHIP with Indianapolis this season.

Rodriguez hasn't been sharp lately, either. He's allowed two or more earned runs in two of his last five appearances and has thrown nine wild pitches. Short starts happen for a multitude of reasons, as illustrated by Archer's exhausting performance. Kela can solve some of the Pirates' issues, but he's not capable of pitching multiple innings, and the strength of the guys in the back end won't matter if there are issues with middle relief.

Dovydas Neverauskas was recalled before first pitch Friday, despite a 2.12 WHIP and .339 opponents' batting average in 13 2/3 innings with the Pirates this season. There's no one else in Triple-A worthy of a callup. With 19 games in 20 days, it might be time to start looking outside for another arm.

3. Frazier returning to form. 

Don't forget that Frazier was the Pirates' leadoff hitter on opening day. He was supposed to be a foundational piece on this roster this season and was the leading candidate to be the starting left fielder before Corey Dickerson was acquired in late February. Yet, Frazier struggled when shifting back to a full-time reserve role.

He was slashing .237/.318/.356 when demoted to Triple-A the first time on June 7, which was far off his production last season — .276/.344/.399 in 121 games, 96 of which were starts. Neither Hurdle nor Frazier had an answer for why he was performing so poorly. Then, Frazier's dad, Tim, called him. After watching his son's at-bats from last season, Tim noticed Adam had dropped his hands lower when in the batter's box.

That, along with better pitch selection, has allowed Frazier to thrive since returning to the big leagues. The 26-year-old led off the top of the first with a double, singled in the third and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth. When Frazier struggled, his swing would often get long, leading to weak contact. The Cardinals were likely aware of that. So, Hicks threw a 101-mph sinker on the hands that Frazier got just enough of:

"Yeah, I can live with that," Frazier said. "It says a little bit about where I’m at if I can do that on him. Tough pitcher for sure. Trying to get my hands inside the ball and luckily it found a hole."

He's now 10 for 22 with five doubles in eight games, only three of which were starts, since being recalled July 25.

Hurdle compared this rejuvenated Frazier to what he was able to accomplish at the plate last season. With Sean Rodriguez struggling, Meadows gone and Dickerson's workload likely to be monitored, the Pirates could use a versatile bench player with offensive upside.

"The swing’s short," Hurdle said of Frazier. "He’s seeing pitches well. That’s a gritty at-bat, that’s a tough at-bat. The place of that pitch where he was able to get to it back through the box like that was really impressive. He started the game off really impressive. Quick fire after they just scored a run and then he hits a changeup. The swing has been in a very consistent place. Very aggressive in the strike zone."

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY