SAN DIEGO -- It was easy to roll your eyes when the Pirates signed Jordan Lyles as a free agent in December.
The journeyman right-hander had a 31-52 career record. He had bounced around with four different teams and never came close to living up to the top prospect status he once held in the Astros’ organization.
However, Lyles is looking like a bargain now with his $2.05-million salary.
Lyles pitched his best game yet Friday night as the Pirates beat the Padres, 5-3, at Petco Park. He struck out 12 in seven innings while allowing one run, five hits and a walk.
“My goodness,” Clint Hurdle said. “Great command from start to finish.”
Lyles was seemingly in control the entire evening except for giving up a solo home run to Franmil Reyes with one out in the first inning. In the one inning the Padres did put pressure on him, Lyles found a way to escape and preserve a one-run lead.
Lyles’ 12 strikeouts were the most by a Pirates’ pitcher since Francisco Liriano also fanned a dozen on July 21, 2016, against the Brewers. Here is a look at all 12 of Lyles’ punch-0uts:
I asked Lyles if he thought it might have been the best game of his nine-year career. He would not rank it No. 1, but the more he talked about it the more you could tell he thought it was among his top outings.
Back in December, the Pirates’ decision basically came down to keeping Ivan Nova as the fifth starter with his $9.1-million salary or signing Lyles at less than a quarter of that amount. The Pirates chose Lyles and basically dumped Nova’s salary on the White Sox in a trade.
The Pirates took a lot of heat for the move but it’s turning out quite well.
In fact, consider this: Nova is 2-4 with a 7.42 ERA through nine starts after getting tagged for nine runs in three innings Friday night by the Blue Jays in Chicago.
Credit goes to the Pirates’ analytics staff for the Lyles’ signing. The numbers people felt that if Lyles threw his curveball more frequently that he could be a worthwhile reclamation project.
Lyles got eight of his 12 strikeouts on curves, including one that completely ate up Wil Myers in the sixth inning for the second out after back-to-back singles by Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer put runners on the corners with one out and the Pirates holding a 2-1 lead.
After striking out Myers, Lyles got Ty France to hit an inning-ending fly out to center field.
“I made a couple of (good) pitches to Myers,” Lyles said. “The last one, he was looking for something out over the plate and I got him in a spot where he wasn’t looking. We were able to strand runners and that was the ballgame right there, for sure.”
Hurdle did not hesitate in sending Lyles back out for the bottom of the inning even though he had thrown 91 pitches. He responded by striking out the side.
Lyles wanted to pitch the seventh to save a bullpen that was needed to cover 4 1/3 innings in Thursday night’s loss to the Padres after Trevor Williams left the game in the fourth inning with a strained right side.
Lyles threw 73 of his 104 pitches for strikes and got 21 swings and misses.
“I felt like it was probably a short leash, but we stepped it up and hit the spots really well, much better than the sixth,” Lyles said.
Adding more curveballs has helped Lyles to a 4-1 record through eight starts with a 1.97 ERA. He also had 47 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings.
However, Hurdle felt Lyles’ ability to skillfully use the rest of his other pitches is what led to his outstanding performance Friday.
“He pounded (the curveball) for strikes but his fastball command was good, and then every time it looked like he was leaning that way he’d throw the slider for strikes and also the changeup,” Hurdle said. “The curveball had a tight spin and a late tilt. He threw it for strikes at the bottom of the zone and bounced it when he wanted to. It was just a great performance.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Bryan Reynolds’ two-run home run off left-hander Joey Lucchesi in the fourth inning put the Pirates ahead and they never relinquished the lead.
It was the switch-hitting rookie outfielder’s second career home run and first as a right-handed batter. The ball did not look like a home run off the bat but wound carrying 415 feet to center field, easily clearing the fence.
“I was just looking for something to drive there, just trying to hit the ball over (the center fielder’s) head, that’s all,” Reynolds said. “It just happened to keep going.”
Through 22 games, Reynolds is hitting .308/.338/.485. Reynolds was not as highly regarded as some of the Pirates’ other prospects, but Hurdle is not surprised by his performance.
“We’ve had a lot of young players come up and produce at the major-league level,” Hurdle said. “It’s a tribute to our player-development people.”
THE BAD
Not much went wrong other than Felipe Vazquez giving up a two-run home run to France with none out in the bottom of the ninth that cut the lead to 5-3 after the Pirates scored one run in the eighth and two in the top of the ninth to move in front by four runs.
However, the closer bounced back to retire the next three hitters to end the game. He sandwiched strikeouts of Manuel Margot and Greg Garcia around a ground out by Austin Hedges.
Vazquez did not get credit for the save, though, as he entered with a four-run lead.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Padres bemoaned missing their chance to capitalize in the sixth inning against Lyles, who pitched for them in 2017 and 2018.
"You put yourself in a first-and-third situation, that's when you need to score, that's when you need to cash it in," manager Andy Green told reporters. "That changes the trajectory of the ballgame."
The Padres (23-22) lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
THE DATA
• Lyles had the fourth double-digit strikeout game of his career.
• Melky Cabrera hit an RBI double in the eighth inning to make it 3-1 and has a hit in each of his last 10 games with an at-bat at Petco Park. However, it was his first extra-base hit in San Diego since June 6, 2012, a span of 13 games.
• Josh Bell singled and scored ahead of Reynolds' home run a night after his career-high 15-game hitting streak was snapped.
• Williams became the 20th different Pirates player to be placed on the injured list, the most of any team in the major leagues this season.
• Seven of the Pirates' nine wins in May have been by two runs or less.
THE INJURIES
• Trevor Williams, right-hander, was placed on the 10-day IL on Friday with a right side strain.
• Jung Ho Kang, third baseman, is on the 10-day IL with a strained left side.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right shoulder.
• Keone Kela, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand. He is on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis.
• Jameson Taillon, right-hander, is on the 60-day IL with a strained right forearm flexor tendon.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, is on the 60-day IL with right elbow/biceps pain caused by a nerve problem.
THE SCHEDULE
The third game of the four-game series is 8:40 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. Rookie reliever Montana DuRapau (0-0, 1.93) will become the first opener in Pirates' history. Rookie left-hander Nick Margevicius (2-4, 4.14) will start for the Padres. I will have the coverage beginning with the opening of the clubhouse at 6 p.m.
THE COVERAGE
All of our expanded baseball coverage, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, Indy Watch by Matt Welch and Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, can be found on our team page.