Pirates Stat of the Day: May 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.
May 31: Royals 7, Pirates 3 -- Minor racks ’em up
Entering Monday, the Pirates were the last team in the Majors to have no errors at shortstop all season. That ended in the second inning on Cole Tucker's misplay. Since 1900, the Pirates have the fourth-longest streak to start a season without an error by a shortstop, according to the Elias Sports Bureau:
• Indians, 2000, 95 games
• Expos, 1990, 68 games
• Indians, 2020, 59 games
• Pirates, 2021, 52 games
May 30: Rockies 4, Pirates 3 -- Reliable Rodríguez falters
Richard Rodríguez blew the save in a two-run ninth of Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Rockies. It's the first time he's blown a save since Aug. 29, 2020, in Milwaukee.
May 29: Pirates 7, Rockies 0 -- Bucs win big
The Pirates outscored the Rockies by seven runs in Game 1 of a doubleheader, marking the largest margin of victory for Pittsburgh so far this season. They edged the Cubs by six runs in back-to-back games on April 10-11.
May 27: Cubs 5, Pirates 3 -- Newman's K
Kevin Newman struck out in the ninth inning of Pittsburgh's loss to Chicago. It ended a stretch of 74 consecutive plate appearances without a strikeout, dating back to May 7, which is the longest such streak in MLB this season.
May 26: Cubs 4, Pirates 1 -- Not enough offense
The Pirates scored one run against the Cubs on Wednesday night, marking the 14th time in 48 games this season they've scored one run or fewer. That's the most such games in MLB this season (Rockies have the second most with 12).
May 25: Cubs 4, Pirates 3 -- Another double-digit hit streak for Frazier
With a leadoff single against Jake Arrieta on Tuesday, Adam Frazier has moved another hit streak into double digits. It was Frazier's 10th consecutive game with a hit, a streak which began after his season-high 12-game hit streak ended on May 12.
May 23: Braves 7, Pirates 1 -- HRs sink Pirates at Truist Park
The Pirates allowed 15 home runs in their four-game series with the Braves in Atlanta. That marks the most homers allowed by Pittsburgh pitching in a single series in franchise history. The previous high was 14, set in a three-game series vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field from Sept. 13-15, 2019.
May 22: Braves 6, Pirates 1 -- Perez's power snaps skid
Michael Perez snapped an 0-for-26 streak in the third inning with a solo home run off Braves starter Bryse Wilson. It was the longest stretch without a hit in Perez's career.
May 21: Braves 20, Pirates 1 -- Bucs allow 7 homers
The Pirates allowed seven home runs to the Braves in the blowout loss. It's tied for the second-most homers allowed by Pittsburgh pitchers in a game, behind the eight served up to the Milwaukee Braves in the first game of a doubleheader on Aug. 30, 1953.
May 20: Pirates 6, Braves 4 -- Frazier's hard knocks
Adam Frazier upped his Major League-leading hit total to 58 with four knocks on Thursday night, but in the details lies the most unique aspect of his hot-hitting night. His first three hits had an exit velocity of 95 mph or greater, marking the fourth time in Frazier's career that he's had three or more hard-hit base hits in a single game.
May 19: Cardinals 8, Pirates 5 -- Multi-hit outings back in style
Gregory Polanco hit a home run and an RBI single against the Cardinals. With a two-hit game in his previous outing as well, it marks the first time this season that Polanco has had back-to-back multi-hit showings. The last time that he did so was Sept. 3-4, 2020.
May 18: Cardinals 5, Pirates 2 -- Frazier keeps hitting
Infielder Adam Frazier has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games after lining a single in the third inning. He's 9-for-18 over his last four games, pushing his NL-leading hit total to 52. He trails Boston's Xander Bogaerts for the MLB lead.
May 16: Giants 4, Pirates 1 -- Frazier's multi-hit games
With two hits in the finale of a four-game series, Adam Frazier recorded his third consecutive multi-hit game to push his National League-leading hit total to 51. It's the first time Frazier, who had four hits in the previous game, has had three such games in a row since Sept. 23-25, 2020.
May 15: Pirates 8, Giants 6 -- Bats erupt in walk-off win
The Pirates earned the walk-off win on Saturday with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth from Jacob Stallings, which was the 15th hit of the night for the home team. It's the most hits Pittsburgh's offense has recorded so far this season.
May 14: Pirates 3, Giants 2 (11) -- Yajure keeps the pitch count low
In his second career start, Miguel Yajure got through five innings tossing just 57 pitches -- the fewest by a Pirates starter this season. This ties Chad Kuhl (Aug. 27) for the fewest pitches used through five innings since the start of last year.
May 13: Giants 3, Pirates 1 -- Reynolds leads MLB in doubles
Bryan Reynolds smacked his 14th double of the season in Thursday's game against the Giants. He is now tied with Kris Bryant for the most two-base knocks in all of Major League Baseball.
May 12: Reds 5, Pirates 1 (10 innings) -- Frazier's hit streak ends
Adam Frazier entered as a pinch-runner after Phillip Evans exited with a hamstring injury, and the second baseman lost his 12-game hitting streak when he went 0-for-2. That matches his career high and is tied with Giancarlo Stanton (April 23-May 6), Tommy Edman (April 4-17) and Jesse Winker (April 14-27) for the longest this season.
May 11: Pirates 7, Reds 2 -- Brubaker minimizes damage
JT Brubaker did not allow a hit with a runner in scoring position in his win Tuesday against the Reds. Entering the day, Brubaker had limited opponents to hitting 3-for-29 (.103 average) with runners in scoring position, which was fourth best in the Majors, per the Pirates' game notes.
May 10: Reds 14, Pirates 1 -- Frazier runs hit streak to 11
With a single in the second inning, Adam Frazier extended his hitting streak to 11 games. That's his longest stretch of games with a hit since he went 12 straight games with a knock for the Pirates from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9 last season.
May 8: Pirates 6, Cubs 5 -- Anderson has the goods
Tyler Anderson produced the Pirates' longest start of the season on Sunday, pitching eight innings with only two runs allowed against the Cubs. It's the fourth time in his career that he's gone at least eight innings, with the last time coming in a complete-game win over the D-backs on Aug. 22, 2020.
May 8: Cubs 3, Pirates 2 -- Crowe goes 6 strong
Wil Crowe rebounded from a shaky first inning to complete six frames against the Cubs on Saturday with only two runs on his line. That marks the longest outing of the right-hander's MLB career after he began the year with a relief appearance before filling in for Chad Kuhl in the rotation.
May 7: Cubs 3, Pirates 2 -- Cahill's 1st hit since 2019
The Pirates struggled mightily against Zach Davies, with their first hit coming in the third inning on a bunt from Trevor Cahill. It was Cahill's first hit since June 3, 2019, which also came against the Cubs at Wrigley Field when the right-hander was with the Angels.
May 5: Padres 4, Pirates 2 -- González's tough night
Erik González committed three errors in the Pirates' series finale in San Diego, becoming the first Pittsburgh third baseman to commit three or more errors in a game since Bobby Bonilla on July 31, 1989.
May 4: Pirates 2, Padres 1 -- Rodríguez's reliever perfect game
Richard Rodríguez pitched a perfect ninth inning, retiring the Padres in order. In the process, the right-hander pushed his streak of consecutive batters retired to 28, marking the first reliever perfect game (27 straight retired) by a Pirates hurler since at least 1974, per STATS. The last batter Rodríguez allowed to reach base was San Diego's Eric Hosmer, who had a two-out single in the ninth on April 12.
May 3: Padres 2, Pirates 0 -- Hard loss to take
Tyler Anderson threw six no-hit innings against the Padres on Monday night, but he was handed the loss in a 2-0 outcome. The lefty became the first Pirates pitcher to toss six hitless innings in a start and take the loss on the mound since Kip Wells took a no-hitter 7 2/3 innings into a 2-0 defeat against the Brewers on July 1, 2002.
May 2: Cardinals 3, Pirates 0 -- Crowe brings high heat
Wil Crowe fired a 96.6 mph fastball to Carlos Martínez in the fourth inning of Sunday's contest against the Cardinals, marking the fastest pitch of his Major League career by a wide margin. Entering Sunday's start, his fastest pitch had been a 94.3 mph fastball to Byron Buxton on April 25.
May 1: Cardinals 12, Pirates 5 -- Bullpen beginning to wobble
The Pirates' bullpen, which produced a 0.97 ERA between April 13-27, has faltered in the last three games. The 'pen has given up four or more runs in three consecutive contests for the first time since Pittsburgh was swept by the Reds on April 5-7.