'Big-time hitter' Hayes breaks through with clutch homer

SAN DIEGO -- The pitcher had allowed no home runs this season. The batter had hit none.

Erase those zeros.

Ke'Bryan Hayes hit his first home run of 2022 on Saturday night to hang a blown save on Padres closer Taylor Rogers and lift the Pirates to a stunning 4-2 victory at Petco Park.

Hayes, who sat out the series opener Friday because of a back issue, crushed an 0-1 slider 409 feet to center field for a three-run home run with one out in the top of the ninth inning.

“Ke’s a big-time player. He’s a big-time hitter. He’s a big-time fielder,” said Pirates starting pitcher JT Brubaker. “It’s awesome to have him playing behind me and then awesome when you’re in the dugout watching him bat.”

The “big-time” moments have been slow to come for Hayes in 2022. He carried a middling .708 OPS into Saturday, and there was little reason to believe the breakthrough would come against stalwart Padres starter Joe Musgrove, nor against the deep and talented San Diego bullpen.

Hayes was 0-for-9 in the final two games of the home series against Colorado earlier this week and said his back tightened up on him toward the end of the game Tuesday.

“Wednesday, it was killing me the whole game,” Hayes said.

After a cross-country flight to San Diego, Hayes spent Friday getting treatment instead of playing, trying to loosen his hips and lower back while strengthening his core. Rogers, who had allowed only one run all season before Hayes’ three-run swat, can attest to the effectiveness of those treatments.

“You see a lot of strange things happen in this game,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He took good swings all night. He got a ball up and hit it to the deepest part of the ballpark on a night the ball wasn’t really flying.”

Might as well make home run No. 1 as memorable as possible. Not that Hayes was fretting about the zero.

“I wasn’t really stressing about it too much,” said Hayes, whose homer was his third hit of the game. “I’ve always been a guy to try to just hit the ball hard, have good at-bats. The homers will come whenever they come.”

Though his standard statistics haven’t been extraordinary, Hayes rates well in the Statcast metrics of average exit velocity (top 12%) and hard-hit percentage (top 17%). He still holds the promise of being a player the Pirates can build their team around.

Moments such as Saturday are what turn promise into reality.

“It feels good to come back like that,” Hayes said. “Hopefully, that gives us momentum coming into [Sunday] to take the series.”