Pirates Brimming With Confidence Despite Their Faults
Pirates manager Don Kelly is a “glass half full” kind of guy.
Pittsburgh flirted with disaster in the eighth inning of their 11-7 win over the Phillies on Monday, June 29, allowing two runs and putting the go-ahead run on base. Embattled reliever Gregory Soto, who found himself at the center of the Pirates’ bullpen blowup two days prior, allowed two runs, pushing his ERA to 13.50 for the month of June.
Yohan Ramírez managed to freeze Phillies’ nine-hole hitter Justin Crawford on a curveball that just caught the outside edge of the plate — Crawford challenged the pitch unsuccessfully — to end the inning. Catcher Endy Rodríguez hit a three-run homer off former teammate Chase Shugart to give his bullpen more of a margin for error, saying Shugart tried and failed to trick him with a sweeper.
The recurring relief issues could provide a reason for pessimism, a bullet dodged rather than a step in the right direction, but Kelly said he takes the positive view.
“I’m a glass half full guy, and I think that we’ve seen our guys take steps forward. We need to continue to get better,” Kelly said. “I thought we threw the ball pretty well. We need to cut down on the walks and the free bases and find a way to dominate the strike zone.”
The Pirates’ bullpen ERA hovers near the bottom third of Major League Baseball; there’s less room to debate their offense, which ranks in the top five with 5.04 runs scored per game. Pittsburgh trailed 5-0 after three innings but their bats didn’t blink, chipping away at Phillies’ starter Aaron Nola before blowing the game open with a six-run fifth.
Don’t Blink
“We have a really good offense, and it’s cool to see the way that we continue to chip away even when we’re down,” Kelly said. “I think it’s the confidence in the team that we’re not out of it. Down five, on the road, there was no sense of panic in the dugout. It was just, ‘let’s get to work and find a way to claw ourselves back into this.’”
Starter Braxton Ashcraft also played a role in the comeback, rebounding to complete six innings and retire 11 of the last 12 batters he faced after allowing five runs early.
“It really just boils down to making better pitches, especially with two strikes,” Ashcraft said. “As pitchers it’s our job to limit damage. Damage is gonna come, we’d be remiss to think that every outing is going to be six scoreless, seven scoreless. They’re professionals too. Being able to limit damage when damage does come, and being able to swing the momentum back in my favor. That’s the biggest part of being a starting pitcher, in my opinion.”
For Kelly, the win reflects his team’s identity over the course of the season.
“The way we’ve gone through the season, ups and downs, I think today, just the game itself is a microcosm of that,” Kelly said. “Just really proud of the fight these guys show every single night.”
With the Pirates’ next 20 games coming against teams currently at or above .500, they’ll need to maintain that fight down the stretch. We’ll know soon enough whether their optimism is well-founded.
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