Derek Shelton and the Pittsburgh Pirates went with what is likely to be their lineup against left handers, for the time being, and initially it looked promising.
Ke’Bryan Hayes struck out to lead-off the game against Cincinnati Reds starter Nick Lodolo, but took nine pitches to do so. With two outs, Andrew McCutchen worked a six pitch walk before getting to third base on a Carlos Santana single that Reds’ right fielder Wil Myers bobbled. Conner Joe then bounced a ground ball up the middle to score McCutchen and give the Pirates the early lead. Oneil Cruz hit a short dribbler for an infield single to load the bases with Rodolfo Castro then striking out to end the threat.
Rich Hill took the mound for his first career start with the Pirates and mostly did Rich Hill things. Reds’ second baseman Jonathan India didn’t wait long to tie things up when he turned on a 86 MPH heater from Hill and deposited it into the left field stands. Hill wouldn’t let that bother him by striking out the next two batters. After a two-out double, the thing that sits in the back of everyone’s mind through sheer pessimism of following the Pirates happened. Recently traded and well-known Not-Slugger Kevin Newman stepped to the plate as the Reds’ DH. Newman crushed a fastball 405 FT at 105.7 MPH to left field for a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates broke through again in the third inning. With runners on first and second and one out, Cruz managed to hit a ball one-handed that he had to reach for up the middle at 93.5 MPH to score Santana from second and close the gap to 3-2.
From there, Hill and Lodolo kept adding zeroes to the scoreboard. Hill finished his evening with all the damage happening in the first inning. He’d complete five innings with seven strike outs to two walks, with only the three earned runs to go along with the three hits he gave up in the first. It was a good look at what should be expected of Hill this season, with keeping hitters off-balance using different arm angles and throwing various junk pitches. Lodolo managed to finish five innings himself with nine strike outs, even after having such an elevated pitch count early on.
Chase De Jong entered for the Pirates in the sixth, and it did not go well. It is far too early to harp on the little things, but this was not a very suitable scenario for bringing in a pitcher who struggles with strike outs and got by in 2022 mostly on batted ball luck. De Jong walked the first batter he faced on four pitches. Then gave up a single. After getting new Pirates’ Killer Newman to strike out, the Reds opted to bring in left-handed pinch hitter Jake Fraley. A middle-middle hanging slider was then given a front row seat in right field to make it 6-2.
De Jong came out for a second inning in the seventh and sent the Reds’ hitters down 1-2-3. Jose Hernandez made his Pirates and MLB debut with a scoreless eighth inning. Throwing 12 strikes on 15 pitches.
The Pirates offense didn’t have a single batter reach base across the final four innings after Lodolo left. Cruz ended the day 2-for-4 with two singles and a RBI. Santana and Joe combined to go 3-for-7 with a walk and a RBI.
Sunday will be a rubber match before the Pirates take of to Boston.
PIRATES @ REDS
Time: 1:40 PM EST
Pirates Starter: Vince Velasquez, (0-0, -.–)
Reds Starter: Graham Ashcraft, (0,0, -.–)
Velasquez notes: This will be Vince Velasquez’s first career start for the Pirates and the 137th of his career. In 2022, Velasquez spent the majority of his time in the Chicago White Sox bullpen throwing 75.1 innings across 27 appearances — including nine starts — while carrying a 4.78 ERA. His final start in spring training showed a little promise, and he’s likely to have an even longer leash now with the JT Brubaker injury news.
