WITH REGULARS
MISSING, VETERAN HOMERS, DRIVES IN ALL OF PIRATES' RUNS
The Pirates lineup was already without Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte on
Friday night. Two innings into the game, they lost Josh Bell. But David Freese picked
them up and carried them home.
After driving in the Bucs' first four runs of the night,
Freese came to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth.
Marte was on deck to pinch-hit with his left hand heavily wrapped, but who
other than Freese was going to finish the job? Sure enough, the veteran
infielder ripped a walk-off single to center field against reliever Tim Peterson to give
the Pirates a 5-4 win over the Mets at PNC Park.
The Pirates and Mets had gone back and forth to that point
of the night, capitalizing on each other's mistakes until they entered the
ninth inning with the score tied. Josh Harrison reached
on an infield single and moved to third base on Gregory Polanco's single
to right. Freese wondered if the Mets would pitch to Elias Diaz or
intentionally walk him. Mets manager Mickey Callaway signaled for the
intentional walk.
Already 2-for-2 with two walks and four RBIs on the night,
Freese swatted Peterson's first pitch into the gap. Freese waved his teammates
toward him as he rounded first base, setting off a celebration in the infield.
The win snapped Pittsburgh's two-game losing streak and
pulled the Bucs back within three games of the second National League Wild Card
spot. With NL Cy Young Award candidate Jacob deGrom set to
pitch for the Mets on Saturday, the Pirates could scarcely afford a third
straight loss on the heels of their 11-game winning streak.
Freese is quietly in the middle of his best offensive season
since his All-Star campaign in 2012. Playing in a true reserve role for the
first time in his career, Freese ended the night hitting .288/.356/.459 with
seven homers and 32 RBIs in 73 games. Over the last 30 days, he's hitting .352
with a 1.009 OPS.
With Dickerson (hamstring) and Marte (hand) sidelined, and
Bell leaving in the second inning due to left side
discomfort, the Pirates needed someone to step up. Freese delivered.
"It's what you're expecting from a guy like him. He
takes it very serious, very professional," said starter Ivan Nova, who allowed
four runs (three earned) in five-plus innings. "He wants the opportunity
to go out there and contribute. He had an awesome game today, and he's been
hitting the ball really well the last couple days. That's big for us."
Freese has made a career out of mashing left-handers. He
showed that part of his game by taking Mets starter Jason Vargas deep to
left-center in the second inning. But with free agency potentially drawing near
if the Pirates decline his 2019 club option, he focused last offseason on
improving against right-handed pitchers. Now, he owns the club's highest OPS
(.893) against right-handers this season.
Freese demonstrated the strides he's taken in the fifth,
smacking a two-run single up the middle off reliever Seth Lugo to put
Pittsburgh ahead, 4-3. And he did it again in the ninth, swatting a first-pitch
slider from Peterson. So what, exactly, did he do to improve against
right-handers?
So are the Pirates. When their postgame celebration finally
broke up and Freese took his place in front of Pittsburgh's dugout for an
interview, Polanco dumped a cooler of water on Freese's neck. Freese stopped in
the middle of an answer and laughed.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Patience at the plate: Down a run in the fifth inning, the Pirates chased
Vargas and took the lead against Lugo. The impressive part wasn't so much what
they did, but how they did it.
Jordan Luplow fell
behind Vargas, 0-1, then fouled off two 2-2 pitches to work a one-out walk.
Polanco also fell behind Lugo, 0-2, then slapped a ground-ball single. Lugo got
ahead of Diaz, with the count 1-2, but Diaz worked a walk to load the bases for
Freese. Lugo quickly got ahead of Freese, 0-2, but Freese took two balls before
knocking a 96-mph fastball to center.
SOUND SMART
Freese became the first Pirates hitter since at least 1920, when RBI became an
official statistic, to drive in at least five runs, get on base at least five
times and have a walk-off RBI in the same game, according to the Elias Sports
Bureau.
Freese has played for three teams and hit a walk-off for
each one. This was his first for the Pirates. He mashed a walk-off homer for
the Angels on Sept. 26, 2015. And he famously launched a walk-off homer for the
Cardinals in Game 6 of the '11 World Series.
ROSTER MOVES
METS: Cabrera was
traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Franklyn Kilome. New York signed OF
Austin Jackson and designated OF Matt den Dekker for assignment.
PIRATES: RHP Alex
McRae was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. RHP Michael Feliz was optioned
to Indianapolis.
TRAINER’S ROOM
PIRATES: 1B Josh
Bell left with left side discomfort following the second inning. … OF Corey
Dickerson missed a third straight game due to left hamstring discomfort. … OF
Starling Marte missed a second straight game with a left hand contusion.
UP NEXT
METS: RHP Jacob
deGrom (5-5, 1.71 ERA) will look to win for the third time in four starts when
he takes the mound against Pittsburgh on Saturday. He has allowed three earned
runs combined during his past three starts, and has gone eight innings in each.
PIRATES: RHP
Trevor Williams (8-7, 4.11) hopes to build off of his last two starts when he
faces the Mets on Saturday. After allowing five runs in five innings of a 17-5
loss to the Phillies on July 6, Williams hasn’t allowed a run in his two starts
since, including when he shut out the Cleveland Indians in six innings of a
rain-shortened, 7-0 win on Monday.
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