Pirates 3 Takeaways: Errors Aside, Ke’Bryan Hayes Again Shows Defensive Value (+)
Traditional fielding statistics have proven to be antiquated.
They certainly don’t tell the story of how well Ke’Bryan Hayes is playing third base for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Hayes has been charged with 10 errors in 96 games this season. That ranks fourth among major league third baseman and are six more than he made in 119 games over his first two big league seasons.
However, Hayes entered Thursday with 15 defensive runs saved to lead everyone at the position. That was one more than the 14 of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado who has won nine National League Gold Gloves.
On Thursday, Hayes could have been credited with a defensive win saved. He made a tremendous play in the ninth inning that enabled the Pirates to eventually beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 in 10 innings at PNC Park to complete a three-game sweep.
With the score tied at 3-3, Hayes kept the Brewers from scoring the go-ahead run. He fielded Tyrone Taylor’s hot smash with the bases loaded with out just behind the third base bag, stepped on the base to force Victor Caratini then threw across the infield to complete the inning-ending double play.
“The play that Ke’ made, man, it’s unbelievable,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We get spoiled. We see maybe the best defender on the planet almost every night. This guy’s special. That situation of the game, to make that play on that ball that’s that hard hit and have the wherewithal to step on the bag and make a strong throw, there’s a lot of defining moments but that play won the game for us.
The quiet Hayes is not a self-promoter. Not surprisingly, he shrugged it off as nothing more than a routine play.
“I expect myself to make every play, especially if I can get a glove on it,” Hayes said. “So, I was lucky enough to make the play and it was a good play.”
The play required good anticipation and reflexes. Hayes showed both.
“Stick the glove out and hope for the best,” Hayes said. “Just trying to get to it. I was able to get to it and then get a glove on it. It was kind of between the lip (of the grass) and the dirt. Luckily, it didn’t hop up on me too much. I was able to knock it down and make the play.”
The Brewers went on to score a run in the top of the 10th to move ahead 4-3 but the Pirates rallied for two in the bottom of the inning for their second walk-off win in two days. Bryan Reynolds scored Thursday’s winning run on a wild pitch after winning Wednesday’s game 8-7 with a leadoff home run in the ninth inning.
Sweet Sweep
The Pittsburgh Pirates did not sweep a series in Shelton’s first two years as manager. However, they have swept two of the NL’s three division leaders this season.
The Pirates also took three games from the Dodgers, who top the NL West standings, from May 30-June 2 in Los Angeles.
“Baseball is funny, man. On any given day, anybody can win a ballgame. That’s one of the cool things about baseball,” utility player Michael Chavis said. “I said the same thing in LA. It says a lot about this team and how close we are to really making some difference.
“We’ve got some impactful players. You catch us on the right day and things are going to kind of fall into place. Proud of how we played today. We didn’t give up. We’ve been putting runs up. We’ve been pitching pretty well. I think things are going pretty well so far.”
The Pirates rallied from multiple-run deficits in all three games against the Brewers. Prior to the series, the Pirates had lost seven games in a row and fallen into last place in the NL Central.
“We just got to keep fighting, no matter what the score is,” Hayes said. “I think last month, a good majority of our (losses) were by one or two runs. As long as the pitchers keep us in the game, it’s our job to keep the line moving up there at the plate.”
Humidity Gets to Thompson
Zach Thompson is from Arlington, Texas, where the temperature routinely reaches triple digits in the summer. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher admitted the 87-degree gametime temperature and high humidity helped drive him out of the game in the fifth inning.
“The humidity was pretty high today and it wore me down a little faster than I would have liked it to,” Thompson said. At the end of the day, I was still trying to make as many good pitches as you possibly can.
Thompson gave up three runs, four hits and a walk while striking out five. It was progress after allowing seven runs in each of his two previous starts, but he remains winless in his last eight outings.
The Brewers got their runs on homers by Victor Caratini and Mike Brosseau.
“The two cutters that hurt me today, that was really about it,” Thompson said. They had a lot more contact (in the last two starts) so it was nice to get some swing and miss, get some strikeouts, weak contact.”
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