PITTSBURGH — At this point in the season, what could happen to really turn heads to a Pirates game?
There were a couple of examples this week against the Chicago Cubs, when highly-rated prospects Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure took the mound, with varying success.
Beyond that, it would have to be a singular moment, a truly other-worldly play or event good enough to get even the most skeptical Pirates fan to doff their cap.
Enter Cole Tucker.
In the top of the seventh of the Pirates’ 9-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday, left-handed reliever Anthony Banda was facing the Reds’ Tucker Barnhart with one out and a runner on first. Barnhart popped up to no-man’s land in right field. Yoshi Tsutsugo didn’t have nearly enough time to run in and catch it himself. Tucker had no business ranging out to snag it over his shoulder.
And yet, Tucker kept running. He covered 88 feet, according to Statcast, looking up to the sky the entire time. At the last second he sprawled, diving out toward the Clemente Wall with his glove outstretched. And he caught it. The runner on first, Eugenio Suarez, was so certain it would drop in for a hit that he was nearly to second base. So Tucker popped up, threw to first and completed a double play that truly needs to be seen to be believed.
That preserved a 1-0 lead at the time, and it may not have been Tucker’s most influential play of the game. The Pirates gave the lead back on a walk, fielders’ choice and a single to score a tying run in the eighth for the Reds.
And then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates rallied back. Four singles, two walks and a wild pitch plated four runs before Tucker got up to bat, but when he did, the bases were juiced. So, of course, because this was his night, he took the first pitch and parked it into the seats in right field for his first career grand slam. More than likely, the Pirates had already produced the proverbial dagger earlier that inning, but Tucker’s grand slam was the exclamation point to be sure.
Early in the game, it seemed unlikely that the Pirates would need a hero outside of starting right-hander Wil Crowe. Making his last start of the season, the 27-year-old was masterful. Over six innings, the only hit he allowed was to the Reds pitcher Luis Castillo, who singled against him in the third. Aside from that, Crowe tied his career high with nine strikeouts.
In particular, his change-up was very good. He threw it a total of 18 times. The Reds swung at it 11 times and whiffed 10 times. That certainly helped him keep the Reds off guard and finish his season on a strong note.
Really, it seemed Crowe could have gone longer, having thrown just 79 pitches, but a long Pirates inning in the bottom of the sixth kept Crowe in the dugout. In the end, it didn’t matter. Tucker made his phenomenal catch, then went yard in the eighth, and the Pirates’ offense piled on to make certain of the result.
