PITTSBURGH -- Last week, Steven Brault said that he’s chosen to break up this shortened season into three even shorter stints of 20 games each. Part 1, he admitted, was “horrible.” In Part 2, the Pirates made progress.
The Pirates’ 5-4 walk-off win over the White Sox on Tuesday night improved their overall record to 14-26, still the worst in the National League. But splitting it up into those 20-game stints shows signs of growth. After losing 16 of their first 20 games, the Pirates went 10-10 over the second third of their season.
“We talk about opportunities and we talk about getting better and we talk about finishing games, and we’re seeing guys take steps forward. And it’s extremely encouraging,” manager Derek Shelton said. “They don’t quit. We started 4-17. They didn’t quit at all during that. They continue to play hard. They continue to put themselves in situations where we give ourselves an opportunity, and they finished the game tonight. ... It was nice to see.”
On Sunday the Pirates finished a 3-2 win in walk-off fashion after their bullpen strung together six scoreless innings. On Tuesday they battled back to tie the score in the eighth before Kevin Newman’s sixth career walk-off plate appearance finished it in the ninth.
“It’s exciting. It’s good. We know that we’re not out of games,” Newman said. “We rally late in games quite a bit. We’d like to do it earlier if we could, but it’s always good when you get a come-from-behind walk-off win. We’re excited about the last two, looking to build on it.”
Gregory Polanco and Josh Bell began the ninth with back-to-back singles off lefty Ross Detwiler. The White Sox then summoned Jimmy Cordero, who allowed both runners to advance on a wild pitch before intentionally walking Ke’Bryan Hayes. Up came Newman, who hit a dribbler back to the mound. Cordero flipped the ball to catcher Yasmani Grandal, who dropped it as pinch-runner Jason Martin slid home safely.
Newman has ended a game in just about every way imaginable. Since the start of last season, he’s been responsible for two walk-off singles, a walk-off double, a walk-off homer and a walk-off walk. In college he helped Arizona to a win by stealing home. But this one, ruled a fielder’s choice and an error by Grandal, was new, even for Mr. Walk-Off.
“I think his ability to put the bat on the ball is what creates a lot of good opportunities for him,” Shelton said.
The Pirates’ ability to finish games is one reason for their recent turnaround. They’ve hit better, but a number of their key players are still struggling at the plate. The bullpen has been a bigger factor, posting a 2.90 ERA over the last 20 games after putting together a 5.96 mark in the first 20.
“We've had some guys really step up, throw the ball really well and take advantage of the opportunity,” catcher Jacob Stallings said. “A lot of new guys, a lot of young guys. But yeah, to see those guys do the job that they've done, really can't say enough about the guys that have stepped up and taken on big roles and thrown the ball well."
Right-hander Joe Musgrove gave the Pirates a good start despite his limited pitch count, holding the White Sox to three hits while striking out five over four scoreless innings in his second outing since coming off the 10-day injured list. He grinded through the first inning, stayed on the mound after taking a comebacker off his left calf and wound up striking out five over four scoreless innings, making good use of his breaking balls down in the zone while mixing in high fastballs.
The White Sox took a 3-0 lead in the fifth, when Grandal bashed a two-run homer off Dovydas Neverauskas to capitalize on a misplay by Newman that extended the inning. The Pirates quickly cut their deficit to just one run, however. Bell smacked a two-out double to left and scored on Hayes’ triple off the right-field wall -- his second triple and fourth extra-base hit since making his Major League debut a week ago. Newman then legged out an infield single, allowing Hayes to score from third.
“We didn't get frustrated. I really think a lot of our guys are playing with a lot more confidence,” Stallings said. “To be able to score right after they score is just huge for momentum. It's huge for just morale throughout the game.”
The White Sox tacked on a run in the eighth, but the Pirates quickly erased their lead. Newman led off the eighth with a double, hustling to second base on a line drive that landed in shallow right field. Stallings knocked an RBI double to right, and pinch-runner Cole Tucker scored when Erik González dropped a game-tying single over Chicago’s drawn-in infield. Richard Rodríguez worked a clean ninth, setting up the game-winning rally.
Pittsburgh’s goal for this season, often preached by Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington, is simply to “get better,” individually and collectively. They feel they took strides in that direction while playing .500 ball over the last 20 games, but they know they have much further to go in Part 3 of the season.
“Our goal here is to get better in these last 20 games,” Musgrove said. “It’s a perfect chance for us, with no pressure, to go out there and perform and put to work some of these things that we’re working on every day before games. Although it might seem to some people like this season’s come and gone, we can really make a lot of ground up in these last 20 games and prove ourselves for next year.”