Pirates pound Rockies with 18 hits in 14-3 victory
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The Pittsburgh Pirates concluded a 5-2 road trip through St. Louis and Denver on Wednesday with their second 14-3 victory of the three-game series sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
Admittedly, it’s too early to make any definitive evaluations, but some surface differences have emerged between the 12-7 Pirates of 2023 and the 2022 team that didn’t win its 12th game until May 9.
• The sweep was the second on the road this season, following three victories at Fenway Park earlier this month. The Pirates swept two road series last year, too, but it took them six months to do it.
• They hit a double-digit run total for the third time this season. Last season, the Pirates’ third and final double-digit output occurred Sept. 14.
• Finally, the total of 33 runs in the three games was the most by the Pirates in a three-game road series since they scored 36 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs in 1975.
Why, how, is all this happening to a team that lost 201 games over the previous two seasons?
Manager Derek Shelton has some answers.
“Three things,” he said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “No. 1, when you add veteran players into it, when you add Cutch (Andrew McCutchen), when you add (Carlos) Santana. Bryan Reynolds having another year under his belt. The best modeling is peer modeling.
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“The young kids are starting to progress, and the young kids aren’t having to hit in the 3-4-5 spots, which they had to do (in 2022).”
The third reason hits home with Shelton, a former hitting coach.
“When you’re in your second year as a hitting coach,” he said referring to the Pirates’ Andy Haines, “you have more comfort in terms of your conversations. You have more ability to have firmer conversations at times.
“With Andy being here for the second year, I think he’s done a good job of really picking his spots when he’s adding and subtracting things.”
It all came together in hitter-friendly Coors Field, where the Pirates collected 33 runs and 43 hits in three games. The first two innings Wednesday provided a prime example.
They punished the baseball and Rockies starting pitcher Austin Gombar with ferocity while scoring nine times on nine hits. A total of 11 of the Pirates’ 18 hits left the bat with an exit velocity ranging from 100.5 to Connor Joe’s 108.5 mph single.
After that, it was only a matter of time before the Pirates won their third game in a row and 11th in the past 16. The Rockies (5-14) have lost eight in a row.
“We’re playing good, swinging good, running good, defense good,” Santana said between innings on AT&T SportsNet. “Everything’s good.”
For the game, the Pirates recorded six doubles, 10 singles and two home runs.
McCutchen collected six total bases in his first two at-bats, with a double and 442-foot home run. Even his groundout in the third inning was clocked at 104 mph. Mark Mathias, who had a 102.5 mph double, also grounded out in the fifth inning at 104 mph.
McCutchen’s double tied him with Dave Parker for seventh place on the all-time Pirates list (296). The total bases moved McCutchen ahead of Arky Vaughan and into ninth place (2,486) in that category.
In the first two innings, seven of the nine Pirates starters drove in runs. By the end of the game, Rodolfo Castro had four RBIs, including a three-run homer, and McCutchen and backup catcher Jason Delay drove in two runs each. Seven starters had two or more hits, and eight Pirates had at least one, with the exceptions of Jack Suwinski, who contributed a sacrifice fly and walked twice, and Reynolds.
Reynolds was the only Pirates player who left the game frustrated, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. He was ejected by umpire Adam Beck in the fifth inning when he questioned a called third strike and threw his helmet.
Almost lost in all the offense was the ninth consecutive quality start by a Pirates pitcher. Johan Oviedo extended his scoreless streak to 18 1/3 innings while allowing one run, three hits and three walks and striking out six in six innings.
Shelton said Oviedo’s ability to command the baseball in the zone was key. Also, he was able to stay “in attack mode” while sitting in the dugout during those long innings when the Pirates were scoring in bunches.
Oviedo appreciates the support, but he said it’s difficult to stay aggressive in such situations.
“Games like this are, actually, harder just because you spend more time in the dugout,” he said. “You have to be aggressive even if (teammates) score a lot of runs. You have to find something to keep yourself upset or in a kill mode.”
The next time the Pirates score 14 runs, Oviedo will find a way to cope. Meanwhile, Shelton is pleased that his hitters remain aggressive, even with a big lead.
“The fact that we continued to add on and continued to have good at-bats was really important,” the manager said. “I don’t know if it’s by osmosis, these guys (say), ‘Hey, we want to continue to go.’ Really proud of them.”
Joe, who joined Delay in collecting three hits, said hitting is contagious.
“There’s a lot of traffic when you’re at bat. It takes a lot of pressure off,” he said. “You think about the team and try to get the job done for the team. It helps everyone’s confidence, right?”