April 7th, 2024
Alex Stumpf
@AlexJStumpfPITTSBURGH -- Edward Olivares saw his bouncer get by Orioles pitcher Yennier Cano and knew he had to put on the afterburners.
“I knew it was gonna be a close play,” Olivares said via interpreter and coach Stephen Morales.
It ended up being remarkably close. Down 2-1 with one out in the bottom of the ninth and the bases juiced when the ball left Olivares’ bat, Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson was able to make a sliding stop up the middle and get the force at second, but his potential winning throw to first was wide and fell out of play, allowing Connor Joe to be awarded home and the Pirates to win in walk-off fashion at PNC Park, 3-2.
That’s now two walk-off wins for the Pirates in their first homestand of the season to go along with their three extra-inning wins. A year ago, they had just three walk-offs and were 3-9 in extra innings.
Perhaps it’s not the most sustainable model of winning, but those late inning dramatics have propelled the Pirates to an 8-2 start. It’s been done in very untraditional ways, too. Bunting their way to victory in the 10th in Miami. Forcing double plays after intentional walks against the Marlins. Beating out a double play Sunday. It’s been far from traditional.
The good news is, so far, there aren’t many new gray hairs popping up in the clubhouse from that do-or-die stress they’ve been thriving on.
"You'll have to ask [manager Derek] Shelton,” Jared Triolo said with a smirk. “I know he's got some gray going on, so ask him."
“Have you seen the picture of me when I got hired and what I look like now?” Shelton joked, pointing to the framed photos on the wall at PNC Park’s press conference room.
It would be a stretch to say playing these types of contests is the game plan, but the players certainly welcome this style of baseball.
“Those are the kind of games we want to be in,” said Ke’Bryan Hayes. “Playing a really good team. They led all [American League] teams in record last year. That’s just how those games are going to be when you’re playing good baseball. Those are the games you want to be in.”
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Hayes didn’t forget the Pirates’ run-in with the Orioles a year ago. After a hot start in April, back-to-back losses to the Orioles capped a stretch of 11 defeats in 12 games, a streak that essentially wiped out their hot start and started an ugly three-month stretch. By the time they recovered, any postseason hopes were essentially dead.
“This year, we were able to beat their bullpen up and execute late in the game these last two days,” Hayes said. “Those are the [types] of things you have to do if you want to be a winning team.”
Those late heroics have been made possible lately due to solid starting pitching. Marco Gonzales extended the Pirates’ streak to four straight quality starts by tossing six innings of two-run ball, allowing just five hits without a walk. He was able to use all three of his fastballs throughout the zone, keeping Oriole hitters at bay most of the day.
“I felt that lineup really does well for my strengths as a pitcher,” said Gonzales. “When we got ahead, we did really well. I think there [were] a couple times where I wasn't as ahead as I'd like to be, but overall, I felt like we held them to weak contact. Shut down the momentum they had in that one inning. Just kind of shut them down for what they had.”
The Pirates didn’t have much of an answer for Baltimore starter Dean Kremer, but after eating into their bullpen the first two games, Craig Kimbrel was unavailable, giving them a better chance in the ninth. Hayes got things started with a base hit in that final frame before Olivares ended it.
“It is beautiful, the results the last couple days,” Olivares said. “It's an example of the team playing together and playing good baseball.”
Good baseball doesn’t always mean the prettiest, and there are things the Pirates can certainly tighten up defensively. But it’s hard to argue with scrapping out an 8-2 start.
“Just being able to keep it close in games like that, I think it just gives us confidence,” Gonzales said. “I think we're just playing loose right now. We're having fun. No one here is under too much stress. We're all just enjoying the process right now."
