Ji Hwan Bae steps up in crucial moments to keep Pirates’ winning streak alive
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The Pittsburgh Pirates carried a six-game winning streak into Tuesday night’s game against the Oakland A’s, but it hasn’t been easy.
In four of them, victory margins have been one run; a fifth was decided in the Pirates’ favor by two.
Such games involve scenarios in which one or two plays can dictate outcomes. In Monday’s 5-4 victory against the A’s at PNC Park, Ji Hwan Bae was involved in three such plays.
• In the sixth, Bae ran 73 feet to track down a 101.6 mph fly ball off the bat of the A’s Jace Peterson. Bae crashed into the fence 390 feet from home plate, maintaining control of the ball to record the final out of the inning.
• In the ninth, Bae caught a softer fly ball and fired home to keep the potential tying run at third base.
• Then, there are plays that barely create a dent in the infield grass, such as Bae’s dribbler in the eighth inning of a tie game that shortstop Nick Allen couldn’t handle, putting the winning run on base. Allen was aware of Bae’s speed and tried to rush the play, creating a bobble.
The Pirates took it from there, with Austin Hedges’ single moving Bae to third and Andrew McCutchen’s sacrifice fly driving home the decisive run.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton was pleased to see it all, but he especially liked the left-handed batting Bae’s approach at the plate in the eighth against left-handed relief pitcher Sam Moll.
“Like we’ve talked about versus left-handers, just put the ball in play and make things happen,” Shelton said, “and he did that in the eighth. When you run like that, there’s so much speed there that it puts a lot of pressure on defenses.
“And, defensively, good reads, good jumps. He comes in on the ball (in the ninth) and gets himself in a good position and (freezes the runners).”
Bae took a .275 batting average and .692 OPS into Tuesday’s game, but he admitted to some recent “ups and downs in my hitting.”
Perhaps that’s true, but in two of the five games before Monday, he contributed two hits each. He drove in both runs Sunday in a 2-1 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the past five games, he’s 5 for 14, with two RBIs, two walks, three stolen bases and five runs scored.
“I’ve been trying to be consistent in my defense,” said Bae, who leads the Pirates with 18 steals. “The more playing time I get, the more experience I get.”
He said his success in the outfield — he also made outstanding plays May 28 in Seattle and Friday night against the Cardinals — is a matter of making the right reads off the bats and “just running as hard as I can.”
“I believe in my speed,” he said. “I’m just happy that I was able to contribute to the team’s victory.”
Winning pitcher Johan Oviedo was quick to credit Bae for his contributions.
“Bae has been amazing,” Oviedo said. “In ballgames like this, when you make those kind of plays, it helps a lot. It’s great (to have a center fielder like Bae). I feel like every outfielder we have is really good.”
Colin Holderman, who earned his first career save while pitching a scoreless ninth Tuesday, also was impressed by his center fielder.
“When the ball goes up to center field, it has to go over the fence for him not to have a chance,” Holderman said. “He’s unbelievable. I have the ultimate faith in him out there.”