Pirates Stat of the Day: June 2021
MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Pirates this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.
June 30: Rockies 6, Pirates 2 -- Reynolds powers up for deep HR
One of the few bright spots for the Pirates was Bryan Reynolds' 454-foot homer against Colorado starter Jon Gray in the first inning. It marks the longest homer of Reynolds' career, surpassing his previous mark of 436 feet, which he accomplished twice.
June 29: Rockies 8, Pirates 0 -- Newman's flawless fielding
Kevin Newman continued his run as one of the cleanest fielding shortstops in the Majors, extending his streak to 66 straight games at short without committing an error. Newman owns the club record for most consecutive games without an error at shortstop, and recently passed Montreal's Spike Owen (63, 1990) to become the first National League shortstop to begin a season with 65-plus errorless games. His next target: Cleveland's Omar Vizquel, who began with an MLB-best 89 games at shortstop without an error in 2000.
June 28: Rockies 2, Pirates 0 -- Nothing gets by these Bucs
The Pirates continued their streak of being the only team in the Majors without a passed ball, marking 77 games on Monday without a ball getting by any of their backstops. The feat surpassed the 1937 Pirates (76 games), the only other season in which the Pirates did not allow a passed ball in the first 76 games since 1901.
Pirates 7, Cardinals 2 -- Kranick's historic debut
Max Kranick threw five perfect innings in his first big league start at Busch Stadium, and, per the Elias Sports Bureau, became the first pitcher since at least 1893 with a perfect start of five or more innings (not including perfect-game bids that were ended) in his Major League debut.
June 26: Cardinals 3, Pirates 1 -- Polanco maxes out exit velo
Gregory Polanco cranked a solo home run off Adam Wainwright in the fourth inning on Saturday at Busch Stadium with an exit velocity of 112.2 mph. That's the highest exit velocity Polanco has produced on a home run ball since Sept. 25, 2020.
June 25: Pirates 5, Cardinals 4 -- Crowe earns first MLB win
Wil Crowe pitched five innings to record his first Major League win. Though he wasn't dominant, he was able to navigate through trouble by turning to his curveball 29 times, which is more than double the next closest number of times he's offered the pitch in an outing (12, on June 19).
June 24: Pirates 8, Cardinals 2 -- Frazier finds swing vs. lefties
Adam Frazier hit his fourth home run of the season and it was also his third off a lefty pitcher in 2021. Only three of the left-handed-hitting Frazier's 35 home runs from 2016-20 came off southpaws.
June 23: White Sox 4, Pirates 3 -- Hayes heating up
Ke'Bryan Hayes had two hits in Wednesday's loss after going 12 consecutive games without a multihit performance -- the longest such stretch in his young career. He batted .209 over that stretch, which may be a sign of opposing pitchers beginning to adjust to him after a blazing start to his MLB tenure.
June 22: Pirates 6, White Sox 3 -- Frazier goes yard
Adam Frazier lifted a solo homer in the third inning and ended the game with his slugging percentage at .460 on the season. That would be the best mark of the low-exit-velocity hitter's career, topping .456 in 2018, when he hit 10 homers in 113 games. His .460 slugging percentage is third-highest on the Pirates, behind only Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes.
June 20: Indians 2, Pirates 1 -- Brubaker's swift first inning
JT Brubaker set the tone for a strong start with a four-pitch first inning against the Indians on Sunday. That's the fewest pitches needed to record three outs in the first inning by a Pirates pitcher in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).
June 19: Pirates 6, Indians 3 -- Reynolds one-hops HR into river
Bryan Reynolds belted a home run in the seventh inning over the stands in right field at PNC Park and into the Allegheny River on a bounce. Per the Pirates, it marks the second time he's done so in his career and the 62nd time a ball has reached the river in PNC Park history.
June 18: Pirates 11, Indians 10 -- Five-run outburst
Pittsburgh's lineup finally came alive with a five-run first inning against the Indians on Friday. It was a much-needed outburst; the offense plated only five runs over their prior 31 innings entering the game.
June 16: Nationals 3, Pirates 1 -- Reynolds' hitting streak vs. Nats
With a double and an RBI single on Wednesday afternoon, Bryan Reynolds successfully continued his hitting streak against the Nationals. He has recorded a hit in six of seven career games vs. the Nats, including the current five-game streak.
June 15: Nationals 8, Pirates 1 -- Rough first inning for Anderson
Tyler Anderson allowed five runs in the first inning against the Nats on Tuesday at Nationals Park. It marks the first time he's give up that many runs in the first inning since Aug. 26, 2018, when the Cardinals knocked him for six runs.
June 14: Nationals 3, Pirates 2 -- Newman's solo blast
Kevin Newman swatted a solo homer in the second inning of Monday's game against the Nationals. Entering the game, Newman was one of only three players in MLB to hit two home runs or fewer over the past two seasons (min. 100 games played). The homer was Newman's second of 2021.
June 13: Brewers 5, Pirates 2 -- Crowe has the goods
Wil Crowe induced 12 swings and misses in his five-plus innings against the Brewers. It's the most in his MLB career, and it helped him record a career-best eight strikeouts.
June 12: Brewers 7, Pirates 4 -- A multitude of short starts
Chad Kuhl lasted 3 1/3 innings in an ineffective start on Saturday against the Brewers. It marks the 52nd time a Pirates starter has not completed six innings this season, which is the most in the Majors.
June 11: Brewers 7, Pirates 4 -- Home run déjà vu
Ben Gamel hit his first homer of the '21 season in the second inning of Friday's game in Milwaukee. The last time he hit a homer, the teams were flipped: He hit one on Aug. 21, 2020, when he played for the Brewers and hit one against Pittsburgh.
June 10: Dodgers 6, Pirates 3 (8 innings) -- Keller lacks longevity
Mitch Keller lasted only 2 2/3 innings against the Dodgers, allowing four runs on 72 pitches. Half of the right-hander's 12 starts this season have been 3 1/3 innings pitched or fewer.
June 9: Dodgers 2, Pirates 1 -- Frazier back streaking
Adam Frazier extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a leadoff single against the Dodgers on Wednesday. It ties the longest hit streak for this season for Frazier, who owns the Pirates' four longest hitting streaks.
June 8: Dodgers 5, Pirates 3 -- Reynolds taps into power
Bryan Reynolds hit a solo home run in the ninth inning -- his fifth homer in a span of 11 games. That's the most home runs the Pirates' center fielder has hit in a span of 11 games or fewer in his career.
June 6: Marlins 3, Pirates 1 -- Kuhl stingy with free passes
Chad Kuhl issued only one walk on Sunday while going a season-best six innings. He now has only two walks across his past three starts after beginning the season issuing 15 bases on balls in three starts, an improvement he says is due to better mechanics.
June 5: Pirates 8, Marlins 7 (12) -- De Jong's duty
Chase De Jong was tagged for five runs on Saturday, but despite his struggles, he was able to cover five innings to help out a taxed bullpen. To do that, he had to throw 84 pitches, which is the most he's thrown since May 16, 2017, when he threw 98 pitches in a start for the Mariners as a rookie.
June 4: Pirates 9, Marlins 2 -- Stratton closes it out
Chris Stratton retired 11 batters in a row to lock down a 3 2/3-inning save for the Pirates on Friday night against the Marlins. It's the first time a Pittsburgh pitcher has recorded a save that long since Jason Christiansen recorded a four-inning save on July 17, 1998, against the Expos.
June 3: Pirates 5, Marlins 3 -- Hayes' hot comeback
Ke'Bryan Hayes returned to the Pirates lineup for the first time in two months, and on his first play he set a new personal best. Hayes recorded a 29.9 ft/sec sprint speed on an infield single in the first inning, which is the fastest tracked sprint speed on an individual run of his career.
June 1: Royals 10, Pirates 5 -- Frazier on hitting tear
After finishing the month of May with the most hits (40) among National League players, Adam Frazier kicked off June by going 2-for-4 with a double. He currently leads the Majors in hits (71) and doubles (19), and his .335 batting average is good for fourth best in all of baseball.