Kevin Newman wasn’t even supposed to start the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. When the Pirates released their lineup, it initially had Anthony Alford in left field, Hoy Park at shortstop and Newman sitting on the bench.
It was an understandable move. Newman has been solid defensively this season, leading all MLB shortstops in fielding percentage, but he also had the worst OPS among regulars — just .541 entering the day. So when Alford was a late scratch and Park shifted out to left, it was hardly a sign that the Pirates offense was about to break out in a big way.
But baseball is also funny like that, how the most unexpected thing always seemed to happen. That was the story Saturday as Newman matched the MLB record for doubles in a game with four, helping the Pirates blow out the Brewers, 14-4, as they opened a split doubleheader.
The run total represented a season-high. The Pirates (42-74) also pounded out 19 hits to snap an eight-game losing streak. Aside from Newman’s four doubles, Bryan Reynolds hit his 21st homer and finished with four RBIs; Hoy Park had three hits; Rodolfo Castro had a double among his two hits; Ke’Bryan Hayes and Gregory Polanco also had multiple hits.
The avalanche of offense came against Brewers left-hander Brett Anderson, who had allowed just one unearned run in two previous starts (13 innings) against the Pirates this season.
It started with a trickle, as the Pirates flipped a 4-4 tie into a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth, then the avalanche came.
Pinch-hitting for Bryse Wilson, John Nogowski snapped an 0-for-15 skid by ripping a line-drive single to left to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead. Hayes followed by shooting a 2-0 sinker up the middle.
Newman drove in two with his fifth-inning double, a high chopper over the head of third baseman Eduardo Escobar. Wilmer Difo singled home a run before Hayes hit into a fielder’s choice to bring in another.
Reynolds kept the rally going by crushing a four-seam fastball at the bottom of the zone from Brewers reliever Miguel Sanchez.
That sort of offense has sort of become expected from Reynolds, who entered the game with the third-most total bases (214) of any outfielder in the major leagues this season. He has blossomed into one of the best all-around players in baseball and continues to find even more power than he did during his breakout 2019.
Newman, meanwhile, has found less. Anything resembling a hard hit for the Pirates’ most often used shortstop has been hard to find, with Newman posting the second-lowest average exit velocity (85.2 mph) among qualified hitters.
The Pirates’ continued reliance on Newman, frankly, has been baffling, with general manager Ben Cherington saying they wanted to give opportunity to younger players and also players about which they to learn, guys like Cole Tucker and Michael Chavis.
Newman, meanwhile, was right there with Reynolds in 2019. While Reynolds was first on the team with 4.1 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), according to Baseball-Reference.com, Newman was second at 3.0. They were viewed as integral parts of the Pirates’ future.
They both struggled for different reasons in 2020 but seemed to be on divergent paths in 2021 — Reynolds ascending to star status, Newman performing below starter level. One good game does not a season make, but Newman surely had to be encouraged by what he did Saturday.
It was the first time he’s had three four doubles in a game, obviously. Among Pirates, only Adam Frazier (July 1, 2019) and Paul Waner (May 20, 1932) have matched that record.
Furthermore, it was more than the total number of extra-base hits Newman had produced in 10 games (seven starts) this month.
Wilson fared well enough in his first home start as a Pirate, working four innings and allowing four earned runs on seven hits. Two solo homers — a leadoff bomb to Kolten Wong and a fourth-inning shot by hit by Tyrone Taylor — muddied Wilson’s line. But he also pitched well enough to win.
The second inning was especially problematic for the Pirates, as the Brewers took a 3-0 lead.
It looked like the Pirates might escape trouble when first baseman Rowdy Tellez failed to score from third base on a grounder to the right side, but Wilson curveball in the dirt got away from Stallings and Tellez scored easily. Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. motored to third on a throwing error from Stallings and jogged home when catcher Manny Pina shot a single up the middle.
The Pirates took advantage of a host of Brewers mistakes and grabbed a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third. Park beat out a soft grounder to short scored Kevin Newman, who snuck a ball inside the third-base bag for a double.
Colin Moran hit a ball to first that produced a curious decision from Tellez, who chose to get an out at first base instead of immediately throwing home or trying to start a double play.
Moran was out, but another run scored. Then when it looked like shortstop Willy Adames was about to make a spectacular, diving play on Jacob Stallings, Adames threw it away allowing two more runs to score.
