Pirates win eventful game for Derek Shelton's 1st victory

The Pittsburgh Pirates debuted their gray road uniforms with “Pittsburgh” in cursive across the chest, classic throwbacks to the early 1990s, and that wasn’t even the most prominent script change Sunday.

Derek Shelton shuffled the starting lineup, a move the Pirates manager insisted was scripted before the start of the season but one that appeared to awaken the slumber of their lumber.

Colin Moran and Jose Osuna homered in a three-run fourth inning during a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium as the Pirates pitchers and hitters combined to give Shelton a memorable first MLB managerial victory.

There are too many people to thank in one tweet, but for now I just want to say this means the world to me.

First win is in the books and now we’re coming home to the Burgh!#TeamShelton#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/7QgJ3TR6wh

— Derek Shelton (@derekshelton) July 26, 2020

Shelton called it “exhilarating.” Pirates players celebrated by giving him a “pretty severe beer shower” — Shelton joked about he hates to waste beer — combined with baby powder, orange juice and apple juice.

“It’s probably the best shower I’ve ever taken,” Shelton said.

After losing the first two games in St. Louis, the Pirates’ reversal of fortunes started when Derek Holland flipped the script. The Pirates left-hander was ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker after criticizing a call from the social-distance seating near the visitors dugout in the first inning, a first in MLB history. That brought Shelton onto the field to argue the call with Baker, who held a mask over his mouth in an animated conversation.

It originally was announced Shelton had been tossed, which would have given his record an ejection before his first major league victory. Instead, it was Holland who was tossed before ever pitching for the Pirates. He’s scheduled to start Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.

Shelton shuffled the starting lineup, giving shortstop Kevin Newman the day off and using second baseman Adam Frazier in the leadoff spot. Josh Bell served as designated hitter and batted third, with Moran playing first and batting cleanup, followed by Phillip Evans at third base and Osuna in right field. Shelton said it was by design, not because the top three batters combined for two hits in the first two games.

“This was scripted out. This was set before we played the first game,” Shelton said before the game. “Yeah, there was no reactionary (decision) at all on anything. … I’m not going to do that. It’s just not how I’m going to roll on that. It’s going to be scripted out. We knew we were going to give Newman the day (off), then I just kind of bumped everybody up.”

Kolten Wong got the Cardinals started when he singled off Mitch Keller, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on Tommy Edman’s infield single when Keller was slow to cover first and made an off-target throw to the plate that catcher Jacob Stallings couldn’t corral.

Moran tied it in the fourth by hitting the Pirates’ first homer of the season to lead off Dakota Hudson. Evans, who went 3 for 4, followed with a single to set up Osuna’s 429-foot shot to center for a 3-1 lead. The Pirates made it 4-1 in the fifth, when Stallings hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bell. They added an insurance run in the eighth when Evans doubled to score Bell for a 5-1 lead.

The Pirates also got solid pitching. Keller tossed a two-hitter with two strikeouts and three walks over five innings. JT Brubaker used a sizzling slider to strike out four Cardinals, giving a boost to the bullpen in his major league debut. Michael Feliz pitched a clean eighth, and Nick Burdi struck out Paul Goldschmidt, Paul DeJong and Matt Carpenter to finish off the ninth.

“That’s probably the most important point of this game,” Shelton said of Keller. “We’re talking about a 24-year-old kid. We’re down, 0-and-2. The manager doesn’t have his first win. For him to go out there and execute, make pitches — the only run he gave up was on a close play at first base — and maintain throughout, he stayed consistent, he executed pitches. When he realized certain things weren’t working, he went to other things. No. 1, it’s a credit to Jacob. Most importantly, what I take out of the game is another maturation step for Mitch Keller.”