Prior to Sunday afternoon’s Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Cincinnati Reds, manager Clint Hurdle pledged the team was trying new things, which made it so Billy Hamilton would not be as potent on the bases.
The result? Four stolen bases (giving him a major league leading 43) and five total thefts from the Reds.
“We weren’t where we needed to be, and that’s my responsibility,” Hurdle said. “End it right there. It’s my responsibility to take care of that and at the end of the day when things don’t work out, the base is stolen. That’s on the manager.”
Hamilton was able to make a significant difference in a 7-3 Reds victory.
The biggest play Hamilton made though was not on the base paths. It was this:
Are you even surprised anymore? https://t.co/CS4zRjlwzp
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 7, 2016
“I’ve never seen anything like that catch, and I had Coco (Crisp) playing center for a few years,” offered Reds starter Dan Straily. “It was pretty impressive from where I was standing.”
The play came in the third inning and robbed Eric Fryer of an extra-base hit. This grab preserved Straily’s (7-6) perfect game, which would last four innings.
Hamilton remembered his near miss Friday night on a fly ball at the center field wall and wanted to make sure that did not happen again.
“I thought it was going to be a hit to be honest with you,” said Hamilton of his grab. “That’s one of those balls that knuckles straight at you, and that’s the hard part about it. You saw me turn to the right and then have to turn back to the left and you just hope the ball doesn’t hit you in the face. You hope it stays up and you can make that play.”
Reds manager Bryan Price needs no reminder about Hamilton’s defensive ability.
“I’ll tell you this, through all the challenges he’s had offensively, his defense has kept him in the big leagues to be honest with you more so than the stolen bases,” he said. “Stolen bases are on there when you’re on base, and a low on-base percentage and hitting at the bottom of the order the defense had to be so far above average that it warranted him being in the lineup on a regular basis. The beautiful thing about this whole thing is he is starting to figure out how to be an offensive impact player.”
Cole remains winless against Reds
The outside perspective on Gerrit Cole (7-7) is that he owns all of baseball except the Cincinnati Reds.
No one can really explain how or why this is, but the narrative continued with this game.
From a 28-pitch first inning to a Brandon Phillips RBI bloop single in the sixth, Cole did not have enough answers for the aggressive Reds offense.
“He’s capable of more,” Hurdle said. “This team has been a problem for him. It’s a little bit of a puzzle, and he has to work harder to bust through it.”
Cole pitched 5.2 innings allowing four runs on three hits while walking three batters. He also struck out six batters and threw 99 pitches.
Close calls
The Reds bullpen has been shaky this season and when Straily departed after six innings, Raisel Iglesias struggled to find control.
Iglesias walked Matt Joyce, Jung Ho Kang and John Jaso. Jordy Mercer then grounded into a fielder’s choice allowing a run to score. After pinch-hitter Francisco Cervelli hit a two-out single, Josh Harrison came up to bat.
Harrison battled to a 2-2 count before he saw a fastball that he got a hold of. The ball had the distance for a game-tying grand slam home run, but was just foul.
“I knew distance-wise it was good enough, I wasn’t sure if it was fair or foul,” Harrison said. “I thought it would be close, and sure enough it was close.”
Harrison, who hit a home run earlier in the game, ended up striking out on a foul tip on the very next pitch.
With that opportunity gone, the Pirates went back to the drawing board an inning later against Michael Lorenzen.
Lorenzen allowed a lead-off walk to Starling Marte and a single to Andrew McCutchen before striking out Joyce, getting Kang to ground into a fielder’s choice and striking out Jaso to end the inning.
“We’ve played some good Sunday games. This wasn’t one of them,” said Hurdle.
Up next
After an off day Monday, Chad Kuhl (1-0, 4.19 ERA) will face San Diego’s Luis Perdomo (5-5, 6.67 ERA). The Pirates have won all four of Kuhl’s starts this season. Most recently Kuhl pitched July 17, allowing one hit in six scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals.
Photo credit: @Pirates
