Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Riding a 6-game winning streak, Pirates are reversing their curse
For the first two months of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be cursed. Now they are the hottest team in baseball, riding a six-game winning streak and capping an historic homestand with three consecutive shutouts against the NL Central-rival St. Louis Cardinals.
The Pirates outscored the New York Mets and Cardinals by a combined 43-4, the most runs in a six-game span while allowing five runs or fewer in MLB history. They had three consecutive shutouts in a series for the first time since 1976, and their scoreless streak is at 31 innings.
A team that was in disarray under Derek Shelton (12-26) appears aligned now that Don Kelly (26-24) is the manager, winning at a .564 clip over the past 39 games (22-17) to inch toward respectability.
“No excuses,” Pirates shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa said while noting that missing first baseman Spencer Horwitz and second baseman Nick Gonzales for two months stressed their depth. “I feel like we’re healthier right now. I feel like this is the team we were rolling out with in spring training. This is the original plan. You can kind of see what we were expecting going into the year.”
The Pirates (38-50) are playing inspired baseball, but their sudden reversal should make the decision to wait until May 8 to fire Shelton infuriating. That they were underperforming and waited until they were out of contention to make a managerial move made this a wasted season.
They are 14 games out of first place in the division standings but within nine games in the wild-card race. After producing losing records in March (1-4), April (11-15) and May (10-18), the Pirates were 14-13 in June and have won their first two games in July.
Kelly’s impact is undeniable, as the Pirates are playing a cleaner brand of baseball. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s a Jim Leyland disciple who has a sterling reputation in the game.
“Immediately when you’re around Donnie, you gravitate towards him,” said Pirates third base coach Mike Rabelo, who was selected in the same draft class by Detroit as Kelly in 2001 and was a teammate in the minors. “A sharp baseball IQ, a great teammate. You could tell that he was destined for this.”
Rabelo was particularly impressed with how Kelly handled the ninth inning Tuesday night, when the Pirates were protecting a 1-0 lead over the Cardinals. Kelly brought the infield to the edge of the grass with the tying run on third, setting the stage for first baseman Spencer Horwitz to field a grounder and throw to catcher Henry Daivs to tag Jose Fermin out at home plate.
“That was awesome,” Rabelo said. “He’s had some tough decisions and, man, holy cow, he has not been gun shy. He’s not timid at all, whether it’s in-game play or sticking up for his guys. That’s been really neat to watch.”
1. Building on foundation: Kelly called the starting pitching “phenomenal” over the six-game homestand, and that’s not hyperbole.
The starters allowed three runs over 30 innings, as Mitch Keller, Bailey Falter and Mike Burrows each allowed one run against the Mets over the weekend, when the Pirates produced 34 runs.
More impressive is how they fared in close games. Andrew Heaney took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings Monday, when the Pirates clung to a one-run lead before scoring six runs in the fifth. Paul Skenes didn’t allow a run over five innings in a 1-0 win Tuesday. And Keller delivered seven scoreless innings Wednesday while breaking the record for most strikeouts in PNC Park history.
“No doubt. Our starters have been fantastic,” Kelly said. “We’ve talked about the run support and how there have been a lot of games where it hasn’t been there. They’ve continued to be the same pitchers. Then you see the last few games where it’s continued to be the same. The starting pitching has been the same guys going out there and it’s been really nice to be able to score some runs for them. If the starters continue to do what they’ve done, the consistency has been unbelievable and that’s the foundation for us. They’ve done a really good job.”
2. Banking on bullpen: An 89-minute rain delay that interrupted the second inning Saturday against the Mets knocked Falter out of the game and forced the Pirates to turn to their bullpen.
Their relievers allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings, setting the tone for the series. Braxton Ashcraft pitched 2 2/3 innings, giving up an RBI single to Brandon Nimmo in the fifth.
The Pirates bullpen didn’t give up another run over the next 17 innings in relief, striking out 14 while allowing eight hits and seven walks.
“It’s been great. They’ve been nails,” Davis said. “Everybody believes in what they do, has their identity and sticks to it pretty much regardless of who’s in the box. Just to see that build and line up with some on-field results and hopefully that builds confidence. Just continue to keep us in good positions to win games.”
3. Getting defensive: There was no shortage of standout plays in the field by the Pirates, who were charged with one error in the six-game homestand.
Kiner-Falefa backed up Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on a grounder, fielding the ball and tagging Brett Baty out at third in the fourth inning Saturday.
Kelly pointed to Jared Triolo saving a run at shortstop and defensive replacement Alexander Canario ranging for a catch in right field to rob Jeff McNeil of a hit in the ninth inning Sunday.
Second baseman Nick Gonzales was involved in a pair of double plays Monday. Left fielder Tommy Pham made a pinpoint one-hop throw to get Willson Contreras out at home in the fourth inning Tuesday, the first of two critical plays at the plate to protect the shutout (Horwitz’s throw to home was the other). And Davis made two terrific tags.
Kiner-Falefa slid on his knees for a backhand stop and throw to get Thomas Saggesse out with a runner on third in the third inning, a play Keller called the turning point in Wednesday’s win.
“When you talk about being able to shut out a team like the Cardinals, to be able to pitch like that and play,” Kelly said, “we had multiple defensive plays throughout the series that were just off the charts, and Izzy had one today.”
4. Hitting their stride: Kelly noted how the Pirates are taking a different approach at the plate, getting production throughout the lineup — especially from players who have scuffled this season.
Bryan Reynolds had three doubles, two home runs and six RBIs in the first four games of the homestand. Hayes is batting .400 (16 for 40) with three doubles, 10 RBIs and nine runs during an 11-game hitting streak. Pham has recorded an RBI in eight of his last nine games, driving in multiple runs in five of those games.
The production from the bottom of the lineup has helped take pressure off the top of the order. In addition to Pham, Davis went 4 for 4 Sunday and delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly Tuesday. And Kiner-Falefa had at least one hit in all five games he played, including a two-run single Wednesday.
They scored six runs in the fifth inning of Monday’s 7-0 win and four runs in the seventh inning in Sunday’s 5-0 win, both without the benefit of a home run.
“We’re not trying to go up there and be overly aggressive in the count, but if we get a pitch to hit, letting it rip earlier in the count,” Kelly said. “We’re not going up to walk. I think that’s the big thing. Guys are going up there to get their swings off. If we get a pitch in the middle of the plate that we can drive into the middle of the field, looking to get the swing off.”
After struggling to hit with runners in scoring position all season, the Pirates have batted .378 (37 for 98) over their past 10 games. During the homestand, they batted .366 (26 for 71), getting at least four hits in five of the six games.
“For so long, we were searching for hits with guys on base,” Kelly said. “It was that missing ingredient. We’re doing a really good job of that right now.”
5. Road worriers: Now comes the next challenge.
The Pirates have been terrible on the road this season, going 12-29 (.293). They begin an 11-day, nine-game road trip with visits to Seattle (44-41), Kansas City (40-46) and Minnesota (41-45).
On the flip side, the Pirates have 27 wins against teams with greater than .500 records, tied with the Chicago Cubs for the most in the majors. Then again, the Pirates’ 38 losses to such teams are second-most in MLB, behind the Colorado Rockies’ 52.
The schedule gets easier after the All-Star break. The Pirates play host to the AL Central last-place Chicago White Sox, then the first-place Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks. They play at the San Francisco Giants before the July 31 trade deadline and visit the Rockies for three games at the start of August.
“We’ve got to stay healthy, got to stay together and we’ve got to back up our pitching. That’s our strength,” Kiner-Falefa said. “It’s nice to be 100% right now. I think that’s all that matters. If we can be 100%, who knows what can happen?”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.