Whether it was his two base hits, a leadoff walk that helped kickstart a big second inning or a significant defensive play made in right field, Edward Olivares made his presence felt in the Pirates' 10-6 victory over the Dodgers Wednesday night at PNC Park.
Offensively, Olivares reached base four times, going 2 for 2 with an RBI, three runs scored and a pair of free passes. He walked to begin the Pirates' seven-run second inning and later scored on a two-run double by Nick Gonzales before getting a second at-bat in the inning and delivering with an RBI single that made it 6-0:
6-0, good guys
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) June 5, 2024
97.3 MPH exit velocity, .410 xBA pic.twitter.com/wEc3Biw4NX
In reaching base twice in the second, Olivares became the first Pirates player to reach base safely twice in a single inning since Liover Peguero did so with a double and a single on Aug. 7, 2023 against the Braves. Later, Olivares singled in the fifth and walked for a second time in the seventh. On both occasions, he scored via an RBI from Gonzales, who drove in four runs in the win.
"He had great at-bats -- good team at-bats -- every time he came to the plate," Gonzales said of Olivares. "To have that guy and Ke'Bryan (Hayes) behind him doing his job, I was put in a situation to get those RBIs and that's because they got on base."
Olivares played a big role in the outfield, too. He made his share of routine catches in right, including one off the bat of Shohei Ohtani that sailed into deep right with two runners on and two outs in the eighth inning. But no play might have been more impactful than in the fifth when, with runners on first and second and two outs in the inning, Olivares fielded a sharply hit single by Will Smith and delivered a dart to home to keep the runner from scoring. That was the last inning for Paul Skenes, who induced an inning-ending fielder's choice one batter later to escape with limited damage. Had Olivares not made the clean throw home, perhaps the runner scores and it's a different outcome for Skenes and the Pirates.
"That's what I prepare for, just to make sure that every time I go in there, I impact the game somehow," Olivares said via interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales. "Just want to help our guys win games, and that's what I did today."
