PITTSBURGH -- From top to bottom, the Braves have one of the more talented teams in recent memory, one filled with All-Stars and superstars. They’re arguably the best team in baseball, and few will be surprised if they’re holding up the World Series trophy in early November.
For four days in August, the Pirates played the part of Atlanta’s equal.
Led by Ke’Bryan Hayes’ three RBIs, Liover Peguero’s clutch RBI singles and Thomas Hatch’s four scoreless innings out of the bullpen, the Pirates overcame an early four-run deficit on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park to best the Braves, 7-5, and split a four-game series against the club leading the Majors in wins.
“First off, really proud of our group,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Bunch of young players against that team in that series and had the opportunity to win all four games. Even going back to the Milwaukee series, these young guys are really stepping up to the occasion, and it's fun to watch.”
Shelton may have referenced, in particular, the Pirates’ four-game series that they split against the first-place Brewers in Milwaukee last weekend, but Pittsburgh’s youth has provided a spark over the last several weeks.
On July 17, the Pirates called up catcher Endy Rodríguez, right-hander Quinn Priester and Peguero. The club had summoned several prospects prior to those three, including Henry Davis, Carmen Mlodzinski and Nick Gonzales, but that day, in a sense, was when they fully leaned into their prospects. And since July 17, the Pirates are 11-11 -- exactly .500.
“A lot of these guys came up together and they're comfortable around each other, which is really important when you get to the big leagues because there's so much anxiety of being in the big leagues and what it is and trying to stay here,” Shelton said. “So, I think the fact they've come up together is really important. … They enjoy being around each other. The second part of that is the veteran guys we have here have embraced them and know that they're part of what we're doing, not only this year but moving forward."
Pittsburgh’s recent opponents haven’t been slouches, either. Over their last seven series, the Pirates have played the Guardians, Angels, Padres, Phillies, Tigers, Brewers and Braves. Of that bunch, Detroit is the only team out of the playoff hunt. The rookies have been thrown into the fire; so far, they’re holding their own.
“They've contributed right away,” Hayes said. “That series right there's playoff-atmosphere baseball. There's a lot of good things that are happening. … I feel like we're that close. We're just going to have to keep going and finish this year out strong. But that series is how we want to play. That was a fun series, just all around. We easily could have took three, even took all of them.”
While the Pirates finished this series strong, Thursday had the makings of a game in which the Braves, following three games of tight-knit baseball, emphatically established why they have MLB’s best record.
Similar to Wednesday, Atlanta raced out to an early four-run lead, putting the Pirates in a sizable deficit by the end of the top of the third. Also similar to Wednesday, Pittsburgh climbed its way back.
The Pirates plated three runs in the third, slashing the deficit to one run. Hayes drove in two runs with a single, then Alfonso Rivas drove in Bryan Reynolds with a sacrifice fly. Reynolds was initially called out at the plate after left fielder Kevin Pillar made a strong throw home, but the Pirates won their challenge and Reynolds was deemed safe.
Reynolds lost the ball in the overcast sky and got a poor jump, but compensated with a great slide to elude catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s tag -- a slide that director of baseball communications Patrick Kurish wanted Reynolds to dub “the Matrix.”
In the sixth, the Pirates took a one-run lead by manufacturing two runs. In the seventh, they extended the lead to three with two more runs. On the pitching side, Hatch, a former starter, entered after Bailey Falter allowed four runs in four innings and saved the bullpen by pitching four scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
"The plan was for him to give us whatever [he] had because we had very little in our bullpen today,” Shelton said. “Honestly going into it, I thought if he gave us two, we'd be OK.”
Over the past couple of years, names such as Peguero, Rodríguez and Davis, among others, have been confined to the realm of prospectdom. Now, they’re here, contributing to Major League wins. Shelton has learned plenty about his rookies in recent weeks. After this series, in particular, he learned that they’re not scared.
“[The Braves have] a lineup [with] multiple All-Stars that start games for them,” Shelton said, “and [the Pirates’ rookies] grinded through it.”