Jordy Mercer had been fooled twice by Seth Maness’ changeups, so Mercer wanted to make sure the third time was a charm. After all, he and his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates had been huddled by the PNC Park dugout heater for over six innings in a game that was deep in the 11th inning.
So when Maness (0-1) took the bait and fired a third changeup, Mercer made him pay with an opposite field single that sailed past St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams’s outstretched glove.
Mercer’s fourth career game-winning hit gave the Pirates the 6-5 over the Cardinals in 11 innings.
“I was kicking myself for swinging at that 2-1 changeup, and to be able to stay with my process and do what I did was very satisfying,” Mercer said.
The winning hit was preceded by a one-out Gregory Polanco walk and single from Josh Harrison. The run allowed Kyle Lobstein (1-0) to get the win after pitching two shutout innings.
Niese’s outing
It was a tale of two outings for Jonathon Niese in his Pirates debut.
There was the Niese who struck out seven Cardinals, including Matt Carpenter twice, and there was the Niese who allowed two runs apiece in the third and fourth innings.
These two performances ultimately resulted in a no-decision.
“Obviously, I felt I pitched a lot better than the results showed,” he said. “I felt I could’ve went a couple more, but the game situation called for (Arquimedes) Caminero to come in, and Clint (Hurdle) handled that decision, so I respect it.”
Niese threw 20 pitches in the third inning, but his big mistake was a 1-0 two-seam fastball to Jedd Gyorko, which just stayed fair and cleared the left field wall.
All in all, however, manager Clint Hurdle was pleased with the outing.
“I liked a lot of the things he did tonight,” Hurdle said. “I think he is still working with (Francisco) Cervelli on the scheming. … He’s had success in the league and experience in pitching out of the windup and stretch. It’s a guy I have a lot of confidence in to send out there because of the back of the ball card and what he has been able to do. I love him in our ballpark, and, as time goes, the relationship with him and Cervelli will improve.”
Bullpen holds lead
Lobstein was clearly in a good mood following the game, asking assembled reporters how they were doing with an ear-to-ear grin. It was his first major league win since May 7 of last year.
It took quite a while to get Lobstein the win, though. It is not easy to manage a game when the pace changes as drastically as it did. What went from both starters leaving early and each allowing four earned runs was followed by a chess match between two bullpens considered among the elite in all of baseball.
The Pirates bullpen put up six zeroes among five different relievers, and the Cardinals countered by setting down 18 consecutive batters.
“The pace definitely changed from the beginning of the game, but you have to work through that,” Lobstein said. “You really don’t want to go extra innings, but we hung in there. You keep persevering and plugging away.
Shaky outfield defense
The Pirates outfield is heralded by many as the best in the majors, but it made a couple of uncharacteristic mental lapses tonight.
Starling Marte was the first guilty party, when, in the third inning, Marte misplayed what should have been a routine single for Stephen Piscotty, who advanced easily to second base. Aledmys Diaz was initially told to stop at third base—a sign of respect for Marte’s arm—but the misplay from the Gold Glove left fielder allowed the run to score.
In the fifth inning, Polanco, who was given a contract extension earlier Tuesday, made the second mistake when he ran a bad route on a ball that was, once again, hit by Piscotty. As the ball was tailing away from Polanco, he stopped his sprint in favor of a casual jog. Piscotty tripled on the play and would later score.
Harrison continues to impress
Sure, Andrew McCutchen had three hits Tuesday night. But it was once again Harrison who again made a great impression, and he did not waste a single at-bat in doing so.
Harrison had an RBI groundout to shortstop in the second inning. Two innings later, he worked a nine-pitch single and then, in the fifth inning, Harrison launched a hard hit ball—but it was right at Cardinals centerfielder Randal Grichuk.
At the plate last season, Harrison was rather selective, but so far this season he has been aggressive with first pitches and has been seeing the ball well.
Though Harrison was 0-for-2 on Sunday, he has perhaps been the most productive Pirate thus far.
Up Next
These two teams conclude their series Wednesday night with Juan Nicasio (1-3 3.86 ERA in 2015) facing Mike Leake (11-10 3.71 ERA in 2015). Nicasio is 1-2 with a 6.59 ERA in six career games against the Cardinals. Two of those appearances were starts.
Image Credit: Mr.schultz
