The Pirates rode six shutout innings of one-hit baseball from starting pitcher Zach Thompson en route to a 3-1 victory over Cincinnati Saturday night at PNC Park.
It was the third outing in a row where Thompson has put up zeroes on the scoreboard with the last two times being against the Reds. His last game against the Reds, he exited due to dehydration while dealing with an illness.
On this night though, no IV's were needed as he navigated through the Reds lineup with ease.
"Every time I go out there, I want to help my team win," Thompson said after the game. "Just get as many outs as I possibly can, and however I'm able to help I'm able to help."
Help indeed.
To get here, Thompson needed help. He struggled mightily during the month of April including allowing nine runs, four earned against Chicago April 23rd. Though it wasn't until after his outing against the Padres where he hit the reset button.
"I think the start against the Cubs, everything was just, it's as worse of a look as you can possibly have," Thompson said.
Thompson's mechanical adjustments have paid off as he's now inducing soft contact and commanding all of his pitches for strikes. When that happens, it's usually a recipe for success and it led to his efficiency against the Reds, something desperately needed by the starters.
"The biggest thing Zach did tonight was be efficient with throwing strikes and give not giving away free passes," manager Derek Shelton said.
Efficiency is the name of the game for starting pitchers and as the calendar has turned to May the starters are starting to be stretched out more to lessen the burden on the bullpens. Thompson did exactly that slicing through the order facing only four over the minimum through six innings.
"When our guys go out, we just need them to be efficient, and he was really efficient," Shelton said. "Today with where our bullpen was at, we were in pretty good shape. But anytime our guys are that efficient, especially the first few times through the order, it's important."
It wasn't until the sixth inning that Thompson allowed a hit. In fact, he didn't even know what was happening.
"I didn't know until the ball was hit," Thompson said. "So, when it landed everyone started cheering, and I was like, 'Why are we cheering for someone else getting a hit?' And then I looked out and saw there was a one and was like 'Huh.'"
There you have it, folks. By no means is it bad Thompson had no clue that he was throwing a no-hitter. In fact, it was very much by design.
"I've really just been trying to get one out at a time, one inning at a time," Thompson said. "So when I get done with an inning, that inning's gone. It's the next three guys, and it's whatever I can focus on. I don't really pay attention to what's been happening, as long as it's positive."
It's sometimes easy to get lost in a pitcher's mentality, but with a simplistic approach like Thompson's, it should bode well for him moving forward as he continues to prove why the Pirates sought him out in a trade with the Marlins.
"The tough start's not something that you want to have. But being able to come back and kind of show them everyone who I am and how I pitch that's been really important for me," Thompson said.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The kids came through once again for the Pirates, this time in the second inning. Centerfielder Jack Suwinski grounded into a fielder's choice with Daniel Vogelbach at first giving shortstop Rodolfo Castro a runner at first with one out.
Castro laced a single through the right side of the infield to set up runners on the corners for right fielder Diego Castillo. This is where it got interesting.
Luis Castillo, as you can see below, balks and in turn Suwinski comes home to score while Castro moves up to second base:
Just a few pitches later, Castro scores on Castillo's single:
While both Castro and Castillo are younger players the biggest takeaway from the second inning is getting quality production out of the final third of the order. That lessens the load on the top third and provides a more balanced offensive attack which ultimately should lead to more runs.
It also shows what players such as Castro and Castillo can do with runners on base and in different situations setting them and the team up for potential success.
"Those guys have not looked overmatched. And that’s tough to do. You go through a little stretch where you’re struggling and you want more and try to change your approach and get it all back in one, credit to those guys. They look really more mature in the box than their at bats show," Vogelbach said.
• Vogelbach continues to show how valuable he is to the lineup with his another solid night at the plate. Vogelbach reached base safely all three times he stepped to the plate.
In each of his two walks, Vogelbach went five or more pitches which helped lead to Castillo being knocked out of the game after the fifth inning.
"He just consistently … and it feels like we talk about it most nights … he has our most consistent at-bats," Shelton said.
It was another quality at bat for Vogelbach in the fourth when he deposited Castillo's pitch into the shrubbery in dead centerfield:
The ball left the bat at 106.2 mph and went an estimated 433 feet. While the data is impressive, so too was Vogelbach's ability to work a full count before launching that changeup out of the ballpark. And
“I was just trying to get something out over the plate. I was able to get a changeup that was out over and I was able to put a good swing on it," Vogelbach said. "You don’t get many good ones to hit with him. He’s got really good stuff. I was able to put a good swing on it – I think that may have been my first hit against him in my career."
It was in fact his first hit against Castillo as he'd gone 0-for-8 against him to that point.
• While the Pirates played solid baseball for the better part of the game, the seventh inning got a little dicy thanks to walks and some slight mistakes.
Wil Crowe replaced Thompson and promptly walked Mike Moustakas before Aramis Garcia singled to put runners on first and second for former Pirate Colin Moran.
As you'll see below, Castro had more than enough time to get Garcia and Moran, but the hesitation before throwing the ball to Crowe covering the bag led to Moran being safe at first and runners being on the corners with one out:
Tyler Naguin would fly out to Castillo in right before Albert Almora, Jr. would hit it right back to Castillo for a single:
The ball should have been to the relay man, in this case Yoshi Tsutsugo, or even to second base, but with Castillo electing to try to get Moran at third it allowed Almora to advance to second. Crowe would then be relieved by Chris Stratton who got the Pirates out of the inning with minimal damage.
Stratton and David Bednar took it the rest of the way striking out four of the final eight Reds hitters and yielding only one hit in two and one-third innings of relief.
“This is a really good win. I know I’ve said it a lot: We’ve been playing really good baseball," Vogelbach said. "It's maybe not shown up in the win column as much but we played some really good teams. We’ve just got to keep going and I keep saying it, but it’s a long season.”
• Saturday marked the first time Suwinski roamed centerfield since becoming a Major Leaguer and we caught up with him to talk about it after the game:
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
Video to come.
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Jake Marisnick (thumb), SS Kevin Newman (groin)
• 60-day injured list: OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Josh VanMeter, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Ben Gamel, LF
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
6. Jack Suwinski, CF
7. Rodolfo Castro, SS
8. Diego Castillo, RF
9. Andrew Knapp, C
And for David Bell's crew:
1. TJ Friedl, CF
2. Brandon Drury, 2B
3. Tommy Pham, LF
4. Mike Moustakas, 3B
5. Tyler Stephenson, C
6. Colin Moran, 1B
7. Tyler Naquin, DH
8. Albert Almora, Jr., CF
9. Matt Reynolds, SS
THE SCHEDULE
Game four of the four-game set will be Sunday at 1:35 p.m as Jose Quintana (1-1, 2.70) will take on Hunter Greene (1-5, 7.62). Alex Stumpf will have you covered before the Pirates head to Chicago to take on the Cubs Monday.
THE CONTENT
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