CHICAGO -- The legend of Ke’Bryan Hayes grows larger and larger.
It’s difficult to have a more impressive 1-for-5 day than the one Hayes’ had in Thursday afternoon’s 5-3 victory against the Cubs on opening day at Wrigley Field. But the 24-year-old gave the Pirates’ a lead they’d never relinquish on a two-run homer in his first at-bat of the season.
“If you can pick a way to start the season, two hitters and it’s 2-0, I’d vote for that,” Derek Shelton said.
“That was good to see. There are things that we need to clean up ... We played like a Spring Training game where we got everyone in there. Didn’t think we were going to have to do that, but it worked out that way.”
Hayes also homered in his big-league debut last September. On Thursday, he became the youngest Pirates hitter to homer on opening day since Barry Bonds in 1988.
“That’s great company to be with,” he said.
That homer set the tone for a complete team victory with all groups, especially the bullpen, contributing to the success.
The Pirates had six relievers combine to hold the Cubs to a run on a hit and a walk over the final six innings. Adam Frazier chipped in a pair of run-scoring hits, Kevin Newman went 2-for-5 and Jacob Stallings delivered an RBI double and walked on a two-hit day. The Pirates also stole three bases, and every member of the lineup reached base at least once.
“That’s how we're gonna have to win games,” Shelton said. “We’re gonna have to have our bullpen be strong and pick up innings. We’re gonna have to do things on the bases.”
For Hayes, the rest of his day consisted of a walk, a strikeout, two ground outs and a fly to right that would have plated a run if not for some reckless baserunning by Dustin Fowler in the fourth inning. His at-bats have become appointment viewing, and there’s a noticeable difference in the sound of the ball coming off his bat.
Since his first big-league callup last September, Hayes has masterfully handled all big-league competition he’s faced. He finished the pandemic-shortened season batting .376/.442/.682 with 14 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs. Then the Rookie of the Year candidate put together a .431 spring average and 1.208 OPS.
The rapid reaction is that Hayes can pick up where he left off from his stellar Pirates’ debut. It’s probably too much to put on one game, but Hayes has provided no reason for which he shouldn’t be viewed confidently.
After all, his approach against Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (0-1) did not sound like a rookie who might be overmatched against a former Cy Young Award winner.
“Whenever he’s going good, he’s using both sides of the plate with his fastball, trying to get you to swing,” Hayes said. “He’ll usually try to steal the outside corner, sometimes try to get you to swing at the two-seam in. He kind of mixes his curveball and changeup. Our plan today was just to get him up and out over and do damage.”
His homer came on Hendricks’ 3-1 changeup, which was uncharacteristically left over the middle of the plate. Hayes flexed some muscle with the long ball too, crushing it an estimated 410 feet into the left field bleachers with a 105.3 mph exit velocity.
“The first time I faced him, he threw me a few of those … changeups, but they cut away,” Hayes said. “They started as strikes but cut away as balls but that one didn’t really do anything. It stayed in the middle of the plate so I was able to stay through it.”
Hayes felt he got just about all of it, but the homer probably would have gotten more distance if it didn’t have to fight through the whipping winds during a brutally cold day on Chicago’s north side.
Pitchers from both clubs were feeling the effects of the elements of the 36 degree day, especially after spending the past month-plus in their warm spring locales.
Pirates starter Chad Kuhl left with the lead after throwing just 33 of 63 pitches for strikes. He walked three and lasted three innings, allowing two runs, one unearned, on just one hit with a pair of strikeouts.
“[The weather is] an adjustment both of us had to account for,” Kuhl said. “Obviously tough, but I felt like I made better adjustments the second and third inning. I felt like I was catching a groove there.”
It wasn't the prettiest line, but it’s probably much better than what was expected from the early returns.
Staked to a two-run lead on Hayes’ homer, Kuhl allowed the Cubs' first run on a Joc Pederson sacrifice fly after he walked lead-off man Ian Happ on four pitches, then surrendered a double and another walk to load the bases. The second run, which came on an Anthony Rizzo sacrifice fly, was the result of some shoddy defense up the middle that should have gotten him out of the inning much sooner.
“I think he rebounded really well,” Shelton said. “Obviously, to control the damage in that first inning and just give up one run with that offense was really good.”
There were 15 walks issued between the two teams, including 11 by Cubs' pitchers. Hendricks yielded three free passes on the two-year anniversary of the last time he issued three walks -- Apr. 1, 2019 against the Braves.
“You don’t see Hendricks throw the ball out of the zone,” Shelton said, lamenting the difficulty in gripping the ball on such a cold day. “Not speaking for him, but I would guess it was because of the weather.”
Beyond any issues the weather may have caused, Kuhl’s command issues remained inconsistent when targeting one section of the zone. The majority of his misses to both lefties and righties were on the glove side, and most of those were below the strike zone.
Kuhl detailed the plan of attack to that side of the plate. He said that he pivoted to throwing two-seamers to that area after he he couldn't land his four-seamer to their spots. The right-hander also struggled to command his slider, which was his most often-used pitch by a wide margin.
"Just trying to be too fine,” Kuhl said. “These guys really can be super aggressive or super patient.”
Kuhl drew upon his final start of 2020 against the Cubs, in which they were aggressive and attacking pitches, in the game planning stage. But he had to adjust as Chicago adopted a more patient approach Thursday.
Whatever issues Kuhl had, they didn't find their way to the bullpen. Richard Rodriguez earned the save for the Pirates, working around a walk to strike out the last two batters of the game in a scoreless ninth.
After Kuhl, the next four innings were covered by four different pitchers that prevented the Cubs from so much as putting a runner on base. Duane Underwood Jr., who was pitching against the team that traded him to Pittsburgh, and Thursday's pitcher of record, Sam Howard (1-0), both struck out the side in their lone innings. David Bedar fanned a pair in his Pirates’ debut and Clay Holmes got two outs on the ground with a strikeout.
David Bednar, Ridiculous 76mph Curveball. 😯 pic.twitter.com/vkMqR9Jar5
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 1, 2021
“Coming into the game, [I] just wanted to get a good vibe, get a good tempo and compete, and go out there and do exactly what I wanted to do out there and execute,” Underwood said. “That was the main goal and I accomplished that.”
Chicago second baseman Eric Sogard finally broke through against Chris Stratton with a double in the eighth inning. Sogard scored on Willson Contreras’ sacrifice fly to right.
Conversely, the Cubs used seven different relievers which surrendered two runs on five hits and eight walks. Despite all the free passes and struggles of the Cubs’ bullpen, the Pirates failed to capitalize on a number of occasions.
The Pirates left 15 men on base and went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position. They failed to get the run home every time with a runner on third and less than two outs, going 0-for-6.
Shelton took those situational hitting issues into perspective as good problems. Sure, not capitalizing on opportunities is troublesome, but a team that consistently gives itself that many chances is going to win a lot of ball games.
“We have to get better and continue to identify things to get better at,” Shelton said. “If we do that on a nightly basis, we're gonna be in pretty good shape.”
THE ESSENTIALS
Box score
Video highlights
MLB scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
Bryan Reynolds, LF
Colin Moran, 1B
Kevin Newman, SS
Gregory Polanco, RF
Jacob Stallings, C
Anthony Alford, CF
Chad Kuhl, P
And for David Ross' Cubs:
Ian Happ, CF
Willson Contreras, C
Anthony Rizzo, 1B
Kris Bryant, 3B
Joc Pederson, LF
Javier Baez, SS
Jason Heyward, RF
David Bote, 2B
Kyle Hendricks, P
THE SCHEDULE
Both teams will have an off day in Chicago on Friday before the series picks back up on Saturday. Tyler Anderson faces the Cubs’ other former Cy Young Award winner, Jake Arrieta, at 2:20 p.m. ET.
THE CONTENT
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