Aggressive approach leads to fifth-inning eruption
After Spencer Horwitz led off the home half of the first inning with his first career leadoff home run, the Pirates' bats went silent over the next three innings.
Two baserunners reached against Cardinals starter ErickFedde, but hard-hit fly balls were corralled in the outfield and weak grounders resulted in baserunners being stranded.
Then, things started to click again in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 7-0 win over the Cardinals, one that stretch their winning streak to four games. A big reason behind the sudden shift was the aggressive approach hitters seemed to embrace against Fedde. Of the seven hits the Pirates registered in what became a six-run inning, five were collected in two pitches or fewer.
"We're not trying to go up there and be overly aggressive in the count, but if we get a pitch to hit, letting it rip earlier in the count," DonKelly said. "We're not going up to walk. I think that's the big thing. Guys are going up there to get their swings off. If we get a pitch in the middle of the plate that we can drive into the middle of the field, looking to get the swing off, and we did a really good job that inning."
JoeyBart singled on four pitches, Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached on a perfectly-placed bunt laid down on the first pitch he saw from Fedde and Horwitz once again sparked the run scoring with a two-run double on the seventh pitch of his at-bat.
The Pirates went on to score four more runs in the inning. And the next four batters saw a combined five pitches. The aggressive approach paid dividends, as BryanReynolds singled on a first-pitch cutter down the middle and NickGonzales drove in the game's fourth run with a double on a first-pitch sinker away. After OneilCruz was intentionally walked, Ke'BryanHayes saw two pitches. The first was a sweeper well outside. The second was a middle-away cutter that Hayes sent over the glove of a leaping ThomasSaggese to plate two more runs:
The ambush tactics didn't stop there. TommyPham added the seventh and final run by sending a first-pitch sinker into left field and extending his RBI streak to seven straight games:
"Hitting’s contagious, and once one guy gets it rolling, it’s easy for another guy and then it just kind of flows from there," Horwitz said. "We’re hitting good, we’re pitching good and we’re playing good defense. We’re playing really good baseball and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
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THE ASYLUM
José Negron
3:44 am - 07.01.2025North ShoreAggressive approach leads to fifth-inning eruption
After Spencer Horwitz led off the home half of the first inning with his first career leadoff home run, the Pirates' bats went silent over the next three innings.
Two baserunners reached against Cardinals starter Erick Fedde, but hard-hit fly balls were corralled in the outfield and weak grounders resulted in baserunners being stranded.
Then, things started to click again in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 7-0 win over the Cardinals, one that stretch their winning streak to four games. A big reason behind the sudden shift was the aggressive approach hitters seemed to embrace against Fedde. Of the seven hits the Pirates registered in what became a six-run inning, five were collected in two pitches or fewer.
"We're not trying to go up there and be overly aggressive in the count, but if we get a pitch to hit, letting it rip earlier in the count," Don Kelly said. "We're not going up to walk. I think that's the big thing. Guys are going up there to get their swings off. If we get a pitch in the middle of the plate that we can drive into the middle of the field, looking to get the swing off, and we did a really good job that inning."
Joey Bart singled on four pitches, Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached on a perfectly-placed bunt laid down on the first pitch he saw from Fedde and Horwitz once again sparked the run scoring with a two-run double on the seventh pitch of his at-bat.
The Pirates went on to score four more runs in the inning. And the next four batters saw a combined five pitches. The aggressive approach paid dividends, as Bryan Reynolds singled on a first-pitch cutter down the middle and Nick Gonzales drove in the game's fourth run with a double on a first-pitch sinker away. After Oneil Cruz was intentionally walked, Ke'Bryan Hayes saw two pitches. The first was a sweeper well outside. The second was a middle-away cutter that Hayes sent over the glove of a leaping Thomas Saggese to plate two more runs:
The ambush tactics didn't stop there. Tommy Pham added the seventh and final run by sending a first-pitch sinker into left field and extending his RBI streak to seven straight games:
"Hitting’s contagious, and once one guy gets it rolling, it’s easy for another guy and then it just kind of flows from there," Horwitz said. "We’re hitting good, we’re pitching good and we’re playing good defense. We’re playing really good baseball and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
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