Ke'Bryan Hayes leaves with sore wrist, Pirates give up homers in loss to Cubs

The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated when Ke’Bryan Hayes started the season with a bang by hitting a home run on Opening Day, as the rookie third baseman showed he could be a catalyst for the young club.

So, it’s understandable that the Chicago Cubs capitalized when Hayes left the game with what Pirates manager Derek Shelton described as soreness in his left wrist, cruising to a 5-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

The Pirates sounded more concerned with Hayes’ health after dropping their second game of the season.

Hayes got them off to another hot start, drawing a walk against Jake Arrieta and scoring on Kevin Newman’s single to center to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Hayes also gave the Pirates a scare when he appeared to jam his left wrist into the dirt while diving back to first base. Pirates trainer Rafael Freitas came onto the field to check on Hayes, who remained in the game until Erik Gonzalez replaced his next at-bat, in the third inning.

“From talking to him when he was out at first, he caught the knob on the swing when he turned it over. I guess the knob kinda got in his hand awkwardly,” Shelton said. “It was not something he had. It was something he aggravated. The fact that he could grip his glove and play defense, we left him in there to play defense.”

The game marked the Pirates debut of left-handed starter Tyler Anderson, whose pronounced pause and leg kick can throw off a batter’s timing. Anderson got the Cubs swinging 22 times, seven for strikeouts. His funky delivery also allowed Javier Baez to steal second and third base before scoring the tying run in the second inning.

“He just went first move on that one,” Anderson said. “A lot of times, I’ll read right there and I saw him go and I kind of got stuck up and had too much weight kind of leaning forward and kind of got stuck at the top instead of trying to pick over there once he took off from first and then at second. I went no-look right there, and he was going as soon as I came up. Since I didn’t look at him after that, I think he was going as soon as I had any movement on that because we had done a jump-turn inside move before that. I think he was kind of guessing on that to be a pitch right there.”

The Cubs took advantage of Anderson in a two-run second, when Baez scored on Jake Marisnick’s single to right and Marisnick scored on David Bote’s sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead. Kris Bryant homered off Anderson in the third to make it 3-1. Otherwise, it was a solid debut for Anderson, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract in February. He threw 91 pitches in five innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks with the seven strikeouts.

“I thought he did a good job,” Shelton said. “Going back and forth, maintaining. He used his curveball effectively when he did use it. It was a good outing for him.”

Anderson got out of a jam in the fourth, when Colin Moran made a diving stop to his right on a Joc Pederson grounder to first but tossed the ball behind Anderson. The bad luck continued when Jason Heyward hit a grounder to second baseman Adam Frazier, who was charged with his second error in as many games. Frazier tried to turn a double play, but Pederson evaded his tag and his throw to first pulled Moran off the bag. Frazier argued Pederson went outside the base path to dodge him but to no avail.

The Cubs threatened to score again in the fifth, when Willson Contreras raced home on a grounder to Gonzalez at third. Jacob Stallings blocked the plate with his shin guard, and his high tag led to an exchange between the catchers after Contreras was called out at home.

Clay Holmes replaced Anderson in the sixth and surrendered a 423-foot homer to the right-field bleachers for a 4-1 Cubs lead.

Right-hander Wil Crowe, acquired from Washington in the Josh Bell trade, made his Pirates debut in the seventh. He struck out Contreras but walked Bryant, then threw two wild pitches that put Bryant on third. Crowe walked Anthony Rizzo, then Baez singled to left to score Bryant for a 5-1 lead.

Pirates 21-year-old right-hander Luis Oviedo, acquired in a trade after the New York Mets selected him in the Rule 5 Draft in December, made his major league debut with a 1-2-3 eighth. Oviedo’s fastball touched 98 mph, and he got Heyward to ground out to second, Bote to ground out to third and struck out pinch-hitter Ian Happ.

“It was just an emotional place for me, especially because this is a dream I’ve had since I was a child. It was very special to me,” said Oviedo, who never had pitched above Class A before Saturday. “The situation now is filled with a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement to be able to get to that point, and that meant everything to me.”