Now this looked familiar, the pitching, aggressive baserunning and the swagger. The Pirates are nearly whole again, and they might yet have a run in them.
We'll get there.
But first, the Pirates' 1-0 victory over the Angels on Friday at PNC Park was primarily centered around Konnor Griffin's legs and Jared Jones' arm, a daring dash around the bases mixed with the quality pitching Don Kelly’s team knows it must replicate to make something out of this season.
The swagger was evident in Griffin, who zoomed 270 feet to score from first in the second inning. Ditto for Jones, who delivered six shutout innings with nine strikeouts to help the Pirates continue to build momentum by racking up another win.
"It was awesome being back out there," Griffin said. "[PNC Park] is such a cool place to play. Great win for us."
The Pirates are now 3-1 on the homestand and two games under .500 (70-72), the first time they've been in that spot since Aug. 5 (57-59).
The big play came in the second inning, when Griffin reminded everyone of the impact he can have running the bases.
Jake Mangum smacked a first-pitch cutter into right field for a double. Griffin scored with a Superman slide despite a minor stumble between third base and home.
Kelly believes Griffin might be the only Major League play who scores on that play. Griffin, with 98th-percentile sprint speed, looked like was shot out of a cannon. Minus the stumble, of course.
"I trip over my feet all the time, so it wasn't anything new for me," Griffin deadpanned. "I wasn't even looking at the ball. I just kind of kept my eye on the catcher to see how he was moving.
"I saw him kind of moving with the catch, so I tried to get as far away from him as I could. I was still be able to touch the plate, so it worked out well.”
After touching home plate, the emotion poured out of Griffin, who tries to be reserved. Sideline for the past 50 games, he couldn't help it.
The Pirates waited to let the sagittal band injury to his left ring finger heal, in part, because half-speed might be the only thing Griffin can’t do on a baseball field. On Friday, he said he felt completely comfortable, a sliding mitt protected his finger, and Griffin also knows the situation the Pirates are in.
They need to keep stacking wins.
"I'm not out there to play scared right now," Griffin said. "It's the most important time of the year. I got activated because I'm 100% healthy. So, I’m gonna lay it all on the line."
Jones’ effectiveness was evident from the first batter of the game, when he struck out shortstop Zach Neto swinging on a slider.
That pitch was sharp all night, and it accounted for seven of his nine strikeouts over six scoreless innings.
That matched Jones’ season-high, along with the length of his start, while the fiery right-hander didn’t allow a run for the fifth time this season.
Jones threw four-seam fastballs and sliders 91% of the time and finished with 21 whiffs, 19 coming via the slider. The Angels managed just three hard-hit balls against Jones, who allowed a runner to reach second base once.
"When I have my bread and butter with me, which I had tonight, it's usually is a good indication of me having a good start," Jones said. "I’m grateful it worked out that way.”
Wilber Dotel followed and demonstrated the value of a multi-inning role out of the bullpen. The right-hander threw eight pitches that went at least 100.3 mph, as his velocity was up 0.9 mph over his season mark.
It's another case of the Pirates benefiting from a multi-inning relief role, and Dotel made a strong case Friday for more opportunities.
"Wilber did a great job," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "Really impressive."
The Angels didn't record a hit against Dotel, who walked one and struck out two, bridging the gap to Mason Montgomery.
Pittsburgh's left-handed closer notched his ninth save, continuing an incredible and dominant run. He's allowed just two earned runs (0.67 ERA) over his past 28 games and 27 innings, walking seven and striking out 47 during that time.
By the numbers
70-72: Overall record
4.0: Games back in NL Wild Card race
7: Wins in their past 10
4: Pirates are looking to win four straight series for the first time since July 9-24, 2024. They're also aiming for four consecutive series victories at home. That hasn't happened since May 24-June 19, 2024.
Defense shines
Oneil Cruz has been criticized plenty for his defense this season, but he made an impressive, sliding catch for the second out of the seventh inning, preventing the Angels from moving a runner into scoring position.
"Besides Konnor scoring from first, that might have been the play of the game," Kelly said.
Jacob Gonzalez delivered another strong defensive play in the fourth, this time ranging up the line and making a strong throw to end the inning.
Henry Davis kept the trend going in the ninth, quickly identifying and catching a foul bunt attempt from outfielder Wade Meckler for the first out of the inning.
Before the game
To make room for Griffin on the 60-man roster, the Pirates designated Christian Bethancourt for assignment.
Additionally, they recalled Isaac Mattson and optioned Brandon Eisert to Triple-A Indianapolis. Mattson has a 4.91 ERA in 36 2/3 Major League innings this season, striking out 37.
Triple-A Indianapolis announced that Jhostynxon Garcia had his Minor League rehab assignment transferred from Low-A Bradenton to High-A Greensboro.
The Indians also announced the Minor League signing of Gibsonia native and Vincentian product Kyler Fedko to a Minor League contract.
Fedko, the son of Pittsburgh sports TV legend John, appeared in 14 MLB games this season for the Twins before being released on Tuesday. He's recovering from ACL surgery and won't be ready to return until 2027.
Third-base coach Tony Beasley sang the national anthem and absolutely crushed it. Teammates and coaches loved seeing Beasley show off his talent.
“How about that?” Kelly said. “That was unbelievable, wasn’t it? He did a heck of a job.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.