MINNEAPOLIS -- Remember back when the Pirates, losers of six of their first seven games with multiple blowouts in there, couldn't wait to get out of Cincinnati?
Well, by beating the Twins, 6-2, Sunday at Target Field, they even their record at 11-11, won for the 10th time in the past 15 games, took their fourth series in the past five -- the other was a four-game split -- and took all three road series on the same trip for the first time since September 2014. And their opponents in that time having included the first-place Brewers, the contending Padres and two 2020 division champions in the Cubs and these Twins.
Out of those 10 wins in the past 15 games, seven have come by four or more runs.
For a team that didn’t exactly have high expectations coming into the season, it’s a stretch that might inspire hope for the future.
“One of the things that we talked about as a staff last night is we played really well on this trip and we were still under .500 because of those six games,” Derek Shelton said. “It's a testament to the way we played. It's a testament to how we have to play. We have to play fundamental baseball. We have to do little things.”
"This was a big road trip for us,” Bryan Reynolds said. “The ultimate goal is to win, and that comes from doing the little things right. I feel like we played good defense, we had timely hitting and threw the ball well. Not much more you can ask for."
Reynolds pretty much nailed it.
To dive a little deeper ...
THE BATS ARE ALIVE
Unlike the team Shelton used to be the bench coach for here in Minneapolis, this Pirates group will not hit more than 300 homers in a season. They probably won’t even hit 200. To score runs, they’re going to have to string together good at-bats and timely hits.
They’ve been doing that.
In the first inning Sunday, after back-to-back bloops from Adam Frazier and Phillip Evans to open, Bryan Reynolds drove in the first run of the game with an opposite field double. Colin Moran followed that with a sacrifice fly, giving the Pirates a quick edge that they were able to cling to for most of the game.
After failing to get another going for the middle innings, once they did get a couple runners on in the seventh, they cashed in. Kevin Newman and Frazier lined base hits past a drawn-in infield, and Reynolds came through again with another run-scoring double.
“You want to get on the board and get some pressure on the pitcher and the defense,” Reynolds said. “Having long at-bats early, getting to see everything a pitcher has in your first at-bat can be really helpful going throughout the whole game."
Don’t get it wrong, though. There is still some power:
That 419-foot shot was just one of three hits by Gregory Polanco on the day. He also got the seventh-inning rally going with a leadoff single.
"It was a great swing,” Reynolds said of the home run. “He had a great game.”
And say what you want about Polanco, it’s pretty hard to deny that the team tends to heat up when he does. After starting the year 1 for 17, he is slashing .273/.347/.523 with three home runs and two stolen bases during the Pirates’ five-series streak.
Now if he can just keep that going...
“I think we have to continue to build on consistent at-bats,” Shelton said. “Putting the ball in play, having good at-bats ... when he does that, balls fall and all of a sudden, things start to get the ball rolling."
The Pirates started this series by nearly getting no-hit, but finished with the whole lineup contributing. Newman had big hits the past two games. Moran has picked up big RBIs. Reynolds is hitting as well as just about any center fielder in the National League. Jacob Stallings has doubled in each of his last two starts and appears to be heating back up.
There’s no way to expect all nine players in the lineup to hit each night, but even putting the ball in play can be enough.
“We won the game [on Thursday] on two balls hit probably about 70 mph,” Shelton said Friday. “We put the ball in play and and put them in the right spots.”
Sometimes that’s all it takes.
STARTERS GOOD, PEN BETTER
When asked pregame about what has been clicking with this team during the road trip, Shelton made sure to mention the bullpen first.
“I do not want to overshadow that at all,” Shelton said. “I think that’s extremely important.”
Since April 10, the bullpen has produced a 1.80 ERA over 55 innings. That includes five innings Sunday to bridge the gap from starter Wil Crowe.
While Shelton has not committed to a formal closer or setup man, Richard Rodriguez and Kyle Crick have been pitching the ninth and eighth innings, respectively. With some breathing room Sunday, Shelton was able to give them the afternoon off, relying on David Bednar, Sam Howard, Clay Holmes and Chris Stratton instead, four pitchers who have still produced good outings thus far.
“Everybody has done a great job of coming in, throwing strikes, being competitive and letting their stuff play in the zone,” Duane Underwood Jr. said before the game. “We’ve just got to continue to do a great job of that going forward, and I think we’ll continue to have success.”
That’s not to discredit the rotation in this stretch. Crowe gave four innings in a spot start, allowing just one run.
“I thought as the game went on, we saw the execution of pitches, which was good,” Shelton said.
The day before, Trevor Cahill bucked his early slump to give six strong innings. JT Brubaker has tossed arguably the Pirates’ two best starts in his past two outings and appears to be on the cusp of a breakout season. Tyler Anderson has been a reliable hand, and while Mitch Keller’s results this season aren’t there yet, he has been in the zone his last couple starts, which is most of the battle for him.
For a group that has lost two-fifths of their projected opening day rotation to injury (Steven Brault to a lat, Chad Kuhl right shoulder), the Pirates are getting some length out of this group of late, rather than relying on the relievers to cover innings.
ISN'T IT GLOVELY?
The Pirates have committed just one error over their past seven games and 65 innings: A misplayed fly ball by Evans, a natural infielder who is more filling-in in left field for now. And even that occurred only because he forgot to take his sunglasses to the field that inning.
That really doesn’t tell the whole story, because it doesn’t take plays like this into consideration:
That’s Erik González pulling a Josh Donaldson against Josh Donaldson. That potential lead-off, third-inning double could have greatly altered Crowe’s outing, and the game as a whole.
It hasn’t just been Gonzalez.
“The game we lost here, the first game, I think we played as well defensively as any game all year,” Shelton said. We made four or five really good plays. We just got pitched against.”
That game Friday included several robbed hits by the middle infield of Frazier and Newman.
“I felt confident, just throwing the ball in the zone,” Brubaker said Friday. “Just in the zone, but hitting the spots and letting them put the ball in play.”
Last year, the Pirates' defense was graded very well in positioning, but they made too many errors to maximize their good scouting. Over the past few weeks, they’re clicking on both fronts.
FOR-REAL CONFIDENCE
One last point that is worth mentioning: This team didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to finish in last.
They’re playing as good a stretch of baseball as we’ve seen since before the 2019 All-Star Break. And they’ve done it all without Ke’Bryan Hayes.
“Guys seizing opportunities with a key player out -- no pun intended -- I think it's extremely important,” Shelton said.
Maybe this team will finish in the cellar when all is said and done. Maybe they won’t. This team is playing good baseball right now, and they think it can continue.
"We’ve got a really good team, and as long as people keep sleeping on us, we’re going to keep surprising everybody,” Crowe said. “We’re going to ride this wave, we’re going to keep playing baseball the way we know how to and keep winning games."
THE ESSENTIALS
Boxscore
Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card behind Wil Crowe:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Phillip Evans, LF
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Colin Moran, 1B
Erik González, 3B
Todd Frazier, DH
Gregory Polanco, RF
Jacob Stallings, C
Kevin Newman, SS
And for Rocco Baldelli's Twins and Matt Shoemaker:
Luis Arraez, 2B
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Byron Buxton, CF
Alex Kirilloff, LF
Jorge Polanco, SS
Mitch Garver, C
Jake Cave, RF
Willians Astudillo, 1B
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates take the day off Monday before hosting the Royals for a two-game set at PNC Park on Tuesday. Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.92 ERA) will take on Jakob Junis (1-0, 3.71) with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
THE CONTENT
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