DENVER — The Pirates totaled a pair of touchdowns during their 14-3 victory against the Colorado Rockies on Monday at Coors Field. They also collected 16 hits, an offensive onslaught where every starter — except poor Connor Joe, who was playing in his former park — had at least one. Eight of the nine starters scored runs. Seven had RBIs.
Yet the surest sign of the Pirates’ progress came on a ball that was hit just 89.6 mph, a bouncer to shortstop off the bat of 37-year-old cleanup hitter Carlos Santana.
Had Santana, who probably could have used a chest protector or some bubble wrap in St. Louis, jogged down to first, nobody would’ve blamed him. Only the well-respected veteran did the exact opposite — he sprinted. Beating out the double play netted the Pirates an extra run. Bigger than that, it continued to set a tone.
That this group, now 10-7 and playing an exciting brand of baseball, will indeed hustle and do the little things right, a way of functioning that certainly has eluded them at times in the past and also one that helped them cruise to a series-opening victory against the reeling Rockies.
“Guy's playing his 1,800th career game,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said pregame, talking about Santana, who ranks seventh among active players in games played. “You don't play that many games unless you're good and unless you're resilient. He's extremely both.”
Shelton then told a quick story about coming out to first base, along with head major league athletic trainer Rafael Freitas, during the Cardinals series and checking on Santana after he took a ground ball to the chest.
“He’s basically like, ‘You need to get off the field. I’m fine,’ ” Shelton recalled. “He’s just a baseball player, man.”
No arguments here.
And certainly none with how the Pirates handled the Rockies in this one — by finally finding some holes, which was a stark contrast to what we saw the Pirates do this past Friday at Busch Stadium.
In that game, where the Pirates were blanked and wasted a seven-inning, 10-strikeout gem from Johan Oviedo, Pittsburgh hit 16 balls that carried an exit velocity of 95 mph of greater. Not enough fell in, and the Pirates had it made up to them in Denver.
The game tilted for good thanks to the Pirates’ six-run second, but it started with a solo blast in the first inning from Andrew McCutchen, his third of the year. It came on a 1-2 pitch, a mistake slider out of the hand of Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who began the game with the National League’s best ERA (0.96).
McCutchen, who prior to Monday was hitting .307 with seven doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 23 RBIs in 44 career games at Coors, didn’t miss the mistake. The deluge of runs came next.
Mark Mathias, who shined with a career-high four hits, lined a single up the middle, 2-0. Ji Hwan Bae laid down a bunt, and Rodolfo Castro scored, 3-0. Hedges, 4-0. Ke’Bryan Hayes shot one back up the middle, 5-0. Bryan Reynolds singled through the left side, 6-0.
Bae (fielder’s choice) and Hayes (another single up the middle) upped the Pirates lead to 9-0 the next inning. After Rockies right fielder Kris Bryant homered in the third, Hayes (sac fly), Reynolds (single) and Santana (two-run single) each piled up RBIs in the fifth.
That was more than enough for Rich Hill, who delivered the seventh consecutive quality start for Pirates pitchers. He allowed one run over six innings, walking two and striking out seven. During this recent stretch, Pirates pitchers have a 2.30 ERA.
Furthermore, they began the game having worked the fourth-most innings in the National League (85 1/3).
ON THE MOUND
Overshadowed, of course, by the avalanche of offense, Hill fared extremely well in what has always been a tough place to pitch for fly-ball pitchers.
Even the Bryant homer should’ve been forgotten two seconds after it happened. Big lead, nobody on base, throw it over the plate, Bryant got one.
The bigger story with Hill is that, after two starts where he allowed 10 earned runs and five homers in nine innings, he has given up just three earned runs over his past two starts (12 innings).
Wil Crowe and Jose Hernandez finished the game to allow the leverage guys to save it for another day.
AT THE PLATE
The notes and nuggets were bountiful from this one, starting with another strong performance from Rodolfo Castro. The Pirates’ de facto shortstop collected two hits and extended his hitting streak to seven games. Castro actually has hits in eight of his last nine, going 13 for 28 (.464) with three doubles and a home run.
After starting the season just one for 15 (.067) across five games, Mathias’ four-hit outburst surely felt good for him and buttressed a bottom of the lineup that kept busy.
Hedges picked up a hit for the third consecutive game, an RBI-single up the middle on a sinker at the top of the zone in the Pirates’ six-run second inning, and also scored a pair of runs.
Hayes finished with two hits and three RBIs, his first three-RBI game since Aug. 3, 2022.
Jack Suwinski smashed a 461-foot homer in the ninth, the longest for a Pirate this season.
UP NEXT
In the middle game of the series, the Pirates will face right-hander Jose Urena, who hasn’t gotten much run support. In his last eight starts dating back to 2022, Urena has enjoyed just seven runs of support.
