These Ain’t Your Early-Season Pirates, Just Ask the Marlins

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates’ season-opening series against the Marlins in Miami served as foreshadowing for what would unfold over the next few week.

The Pirates dropped three out of four games in ugly fashion in a frustrating, and frankly, embarrassing start to the season.

On Opening Day, the Pirates had a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning but were walked-off in the ninth. After a win in the second game of the series, the Pirates were walked off in 12 innings in the third game of the series and were once again walked-off in the series finale.

Woof.

The Pirates met the Marlins again on Monday night at PNC Park, but this time, the outcome looked much different — as did the team wearing the black and gold.

The Pirates matched a season-high in runs and defeated the Marlins 10-3 to start a three-game series in Pittsburgh. It was a complete team effort.

“That was a blast out there,” said catcher Brett Sullivan, who went 1 for 2 with two RBI, a run and a walk in his team debut. “For it to be that game and everyone contributing, that was just good, clean baseball all around. That’s what you want to be a part of.”

Though the offense has struggled for much of the season, you never would’ve guessed it by their performance on Monday.

All nine batters had a hit. Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier led the way with three apiece. Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales each had two. Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup scored a run. The only one who didn’t was Bryan Reynolds, who drove in three.

The Pirates scored four runs in the third inning to go ahead 4-1. They kept the foot on the accelerator after that.

“I mean, 4-1 felt good. I was actually thinking in the outfield, ‘It feels good,’” Reynolds said outside his locker after the game. “Then I remembered opening weekend they just kept coming back on us, so obviously wanted some more. And we did that.”

The Pirates continued to generate scoring opportunities throughout the game, and boy did they cash in.

Of their 15 hits in the win, eight of them came with runners in scoring position. The Pirates totaled 19 at-bats with runners on second and/or third base and didn’t let them go to waste.

“It was great. Gap to gap,” manager Don Kelly said on the success with runners in scoring position. “Like we talked about, staying within ourselves and not trying to go up and hit the home run. Just lining balls to the outfield.”

For context, the Pirates totaled 14 runs and 25 hits in their first four games of the season at loanDepot Park. They went 8 for 40 with runners in scoring position during that series.

The biggest change for the Pirates, though, from late March to the second week of June is a new manager.

The Pirates fired Derek Shelton on May 8 and promoted Kelly.

Kelly is now a month into the job and his club is 15-14 since he took over. The Pirates are riding a four-game winning streak, their longest of the season. Although the hole they dug themselves into has them at 27-40 on the year, they are playing much better baseball.

The starting pitching has been great. The defense has been excellent. The bullpen is coming around and the offense is showing signs of life.

It’s clear that the team has bought into Kelly’s message. From on the field play, to what the players say when asked about him. So far, it’s working.

“The guys are playing baseball, playing the game well. They’re coming out and competing,” Kelly said. “We know the work that goes into it, that we see everyday. Starting to see some of the fruits of that. You know, they’re staying within themselves and moving the ball forward. When you talk about getting guys in scoring position, trying to find a way, we were able to do that tonight.”