For the Pirates to not only earn their first victory in more than a week but also build some sort of momentum at the end of May, they had to do something that the franchise hadn’t done in nearly 50 years.
David Bednar put the finishing touches on the 14th scoreless inning from Pirates pitching by getting Ramiel Tapia to line to center for the final out of Game 2 against the Rockies in Saturday’s doubleheader. It was the first time that Pirates pitching held the opposition scoreless in both ends of a doubleheader since the final day of the 1976 season when Jim Rooker and Jerry Reuss both shutout the Cardinals, 1-0.
The historical context allowed Derek Shelton to channel his inner Yogi Berra.
“When you get two shutouts in a doubleheader, it gives us a lot better chance to win them.”
JUSTIN BERL / GETTY
The Pirates' Ka'ai Tom, Bryan Reynolds and Ben Gamel celebrate the Game 2 victory Saturday evening at PNC Park.
Mitch Keller pitched the first five innings of the Pirates’ 4-0 victory against the Rockies in the second game at PNC Park. JT Brubaker nearly went the distance, lasting six innings in the 7-0 win in the matinee.
Brubaker had been the Pirates’ best starter over the first six weeks of the season. But he struggled to allow 12 runs over his past two outings, which was one more than what he’d given up in his first seven starts this year. His absence, at least in the sense that he wasn’t his most effective self, was noticeable as the Pirates lost seven of the previous eight games before the Rockies came to town.
But he had just about everything working and, perhaps most importantly, he kept the ball in the park Saturday.
“Just a mix of everything, being able to throw them for strikes and then being able to throw them for chase when I need to,” Brubaker said.
The Rockies had just five balls in play that were at least 94 mph off the bat against Brubaker, and put just one ball in play with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph. Brubaker lowered his ERA to the rotation’s best, 3.74 while striking out five in the matinee.
Keller’s season as a whole can be defined with a frustrating oxymoron: An inconsistent pattern.
He’s literally alternated between objectively bad and objectively good starts all season. Although he says that it’s not something he thinks about, it’s tough to ignore completely.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed. How can I not?” Keller said. “I’m not even thinking about that. Come game time, it’s go time.”
If he followed the pattern, Saturday was his turn to be good. And he was exactly that.
He struck out six and allowed only two hits and two walks in Game 2. A big difference-maker for him in this game was the noticeable bite in the movement of his breaking pitches, which had a tendency of being flat at times this season.
“Yeah, whenever you can have a sharp bite on your breaking ball pitches, it makes it a little bit easier to navigate through the lineup,” Keller said.
His most impressive hook came on a 3-2 pitch to C.J. Cron to start the fourth inning. After falling behind, 3-0, Keller got back in the count with four consecutive fastballs before bending a slider off the corner low and away and getting Cron to chase.
Of course, back then Rooker and Reuss went nine innings. And, though present-day Colorado and the ‘76 Cards are in similar spots in their respective standings, the Rockies have scored just three runs in their past five games -- four of which were seven-inning contests.
But the performances of Brubaker, Keller, Bednar, Sam Howard and Chasen Shreve were exactly what the Pirates needed to stop a six-game losing streak.
“It was nice to see Mitch come out and attack the zone, kind of just coupled off what Bru did in Game 1. We played well today. It was really nice,” Shelton said. “I think when the messaging is very similar, which it is for those two guys, it can lead into it. And I thought both of them did a nice job. Mitch kind of took what Bru did and continued to go with it.”
That common messaging was simple. And something they’ve said a lot this season. Attack the zone. It’s a message that’s relayed almost everyday, and certainly on the days that Keller pitches. But against a weak-hitting team that’s probably the Pirates’ greatest obstacle in obtaining consecutive No. 1 overall draft picks, it worked like a charm.
“[We] just put a really big focus on attacking and letting them kind of get themselves out and putting the ball in their court and not leaving it to the umpires or anything like that,” Keller said.
Both Brubaker and Keller were dominant in the early innings before things got dicey in their final frame. Brubaker retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced before needing to work out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth. Keller allowed just a hit and a walk over the first four innings before needing to strand two runners in scoring position in the fifth.
“It was cool. It was fun to watch. Really just dominating the zone today and moving it around. A couple big moments,” noticed Adam Frazier, who went 3-for-7 in the twinbill, including a lead-off homer in Game 2. “They had bases loaded or a couple guys on, one point each game, they made pitches and got out of it. Those two moments are listed out to be when adversity hits, and if you get out of it, that's how you end up winning games. Take a couple big steps forward for them, and [it] gives us a chance to keep pouring on."
MORE FROM THIS GAME
• There was some entertaining scoreboard watching going on in the later innings of Game 1. Obviously it wasn't related to the Pirates' place in the standings. But it was a rather interesting piece of baseball history. The league needed just 13 runs to reach 2 million all time, and with the Pirates and Rockies among one of the earlier games of the day, they had a chance .
They came very, very close. Frazier scored the final run of Game 1 in the sixth inning. It was the 1,999,999th in baseball history.
"I guess I was one off," Frazier said.
Instead, Josh Donaldson scored No. 2 million on Nelson Cruz's double in the first inning of the Twins' 6-5 victory against the Royals.
• A ton was made of Will Craig's tremendous blunder in Thursday's loss to the Cubs. And it was all very much deserved. But former Pirate Elias Diaz, who is now the backup catcher on the Rockies, did something quite boneheaded in Game 2. Only this one won't get nearly as much attention as Craig's.
The Pirates had runners on first and second that took off on a 3-2 pitch from Rockies' starter Austin Gomber that sailed up and in on Bryan Reynolds for ball four. It was very obviously not a strike, and wasn't anywhere near the strike zone. But that didn't stop Diaz from trying to throw out Frazier at third.
The throw could have beaten Frazier by 80 feet. But it doesn't matter. Frazier has the base on the walk. The throw was entirely unnecessary. There was only one out, but the pitch wasn't anywhere near the zone.
So it looks even worse when Diaz throw sails into left field, and Frazier dusts himself off as he trots home to make it a two-run game. Diaz certainly won't be the punchline that Craig's been for the past couple days. But he certainly deserves some ridicule.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes isn't eligible to join the Pirates for almost another week, but it seems like he won't miss a beat when he returns. The 24-year-old homered for the second time during his rehab stint with Class AAA Indianapolis on Saturday.
.@KeBryanHayes is putting on an absolute SHOW this week. 👀💪 pic.twitter.com/5oMH3jzKsy
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) May 30, 2021
• There was finally some moments of levity for a Pirates team that had been reeling. The most comic relief came after Jacob Stallings tripled for the first time in his MLB career late in Game 2. Alex Stumpf has more on "The Cheetah."
• Rick Eckstein also had plenty to provide about the Pirates' offense, which has uncharacteristically produced most of it's runs via the long ball over the past three games.
THE ESSENTIALS
Box scores: Game 1 | Game 2
Highlights: Game 1 | Game 2
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card for Game 1:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Ben Gamel, LF
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Gregory Polanco, RF
Will Craig, 1B
Wilmer Difo, 3B
Cole Tucker, SS
Michael Perez, C
JT Brubaker, P
And in Game 2:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Kevin Newman, SS
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Jacob Stallings, C
Will Craig, 1B
Ben Gamel, RF
Erik Gonzalez, 3B
Ka'ai Tom, LF
Mitch Keller, P
And for Bud Black's Rockies:
Raimel Tapia, LF
Garrett Hampson, CF
Ryan McMahon, 2B
C.J. Cron, 1B
Charlie Blackmon, RF
Brendan Rodgers, SS
Joshua Fuentes, 3B
Dom Nunez, C
Jon Gray, P
And in Game 2:
Raimel Tapia, LF
Ryan McMahon, 2B
C.J. Cron, 1B
Charlie Blackmon, RF
Brendan Rodgers, SS
Josh Fuentes, 3B
Yonathan Daza, CF
Elias Diaz, C
Austin Gomber, P
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates wrap up their series with the Rockies on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates still have not revealed who will oppose the left-hander Kyle Freeland. After that contest, the Pirates travel to Kansas City for a quick, two-game series against the Royals beginning Monday. Alex Stumpf will be doing the traveling on our end.
THE CONTENT
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