ST. LOUIS — Speaking by phone with the Post-Gazette from his St. Louis hotel room on Saturday afternoon, the excitement in Max Kranick’s voice was glaringly obvious.
Pranked good by his Class AAA manager and pitching coach, Kranick had arrived here by car only hours earlier, driving past Busch Stadium and hearing the roar of the pregame crowd. Although the promotion happened earlier than Kranick expected, he was undoubtedly ready for center stage.
"It’s probably going to be the best day of my life," Kranick mused about his MLB debut.
Kranick and the Pirates removed any doubt with what happened Sunday during a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals, the Scranton native shining while retiring all 15 St. Louis hitters he faced.
The only thing that Kranick couldn't control or overcome was the rain, as the skies opened up and the tarp came on at 2:51 p.m. CDT for the start of a 64-minute rain delay. It was enough to cut short Kranick's magical debut, though it certainly didn't make it any less special.
Kranick earned the win, as Duane Underwood Jr. and David Bednar finished with four innings and two runs allowed coming out of the rain delay. The top of the Pirates order was also its typical, productive self, with Adam Frazier, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds combining to go 7 for 14 with three RBIs and four runs scored.
The victory helped the Pirates take three of four from the struggling Cardinals, who are just 7-17 in June.
But as much as this one meant to the current Pirates, who have been playing much better baseball while winning six of nine following a 10-game losing skid, it's also important for the big picture.
In order for the Pirates to become better, they're going to need guys like Kranick —pitchers or position players who come up here, produce and become pleasant surprises.
And that's exactly what Kranick was on this day: a hugely pleasant surprise for the Pirates.
The walk issues that have plagued the Cardinals for much of this season helped the Pirates to jump ahead early with a three-run first. Frazier picked up a free pass to start, one of four in the inning, and scored on Reynolds’ single to center.
That extended Reynolds’ hitting streak to 12 games, the longest active one in the National League. He’s hitting .429 (21 for 49) in those 12 games with three doubles, three home runs and 13 RBIs.
The Pirates surged ahead, 2-0, by pressing the issue with some small ball and aggressive baserunning, something they’ve done more later. Reynolds broke for second. Yadier Molina tried to throw before he caught the ball, which trickled to the brick wall behind home plate. That allowed Hayes to jog home from third.
Ben Gamel walked with the bases loaded to help the Pirates pick up their third run before Kranick wound up hitting before pitching in his MLB debut. He grounded out to short to end the inning.
Kranick became just the second pitcher in Pirates history to hit before pitching while making his MLB debut. The only other was Paul Maholm on Aug. 30, 2005.
As amazing was Kranick was early, he was nearly outdone by a sensational play at third base from Hayes.
In the bottom of the second inning and nobody on base, Hayes ranged to his right to field a grounder from Molina. While in foul territory and with Hayes’ momentum taking him away from the bag, the third baseman somehow got off a throw hard enough to nail Molina for the second out of the inning.
The winner of three consecutive Gold Gloves in the minor leagues, we’ve come to expect terrific defense from Hayes. But this exceeded even the loftiest expectations. It’s a play that should be on his career highlight reel for a long, long time.
Pittsburgh took advantage of St. Louis’ wobbly starting pitching and grew its lead in the fourth inning. Gamel singled and scored when Hayes bounced one up the middle; second baseman Tommy Edman couldn’t connect with shortstop Paul DeJong in time to get an out.
After hitting a heater up in his first at-bat, Reynolds went down and got a changeup in his second, the fly ball bouncing just in front of Dylan Carlson in center for a 5-0 Pirates lead.
Jake Woodford relieved starter Johan Oviedo, but things only got worse for the Cardinals, who began Sunday’s game with the National League’s third-highest ERA in June (5.06) and the most walks issued in MLB (332).
Gregory Polanco greeted Oviedo by taking a 2-0 sinker the opposite way, into the Pirates bullpen, as Richard Rodriguez tried to catch Polanco’s ninth of the year and second in as many days with his hat. Two batters later, Gamel clobbered a curveball 417 feet to center field for his second of the season.
Watching in the dugout, Kranick had to be absolutely loving it. The cushion he enjoyed the entire game allowed him to attack the strike zone, which is exactly what manager Derek Shelton wanted Kranick to do.
"We’re looking for him to come out and throw the ball over the plate," Shelton said before the game. "As we’ve talked about, we’re going to get different looks at guys, and the evaluation of him is coming up, getting his feet wet at the major league level and going right after hitters. I think that’s the biggest thing."
Kranick certainly passed that test, throwing 36 of his 50 pitches for strikes, with nothing the Cardinals hit carrying an exit velocity greater than 97.3 mph. The right-hander's first MLB strikeout came against left fielder Tyler O'Neill, who swung and missed on a fastball Kranick located perfectly on the outside corner.
That was the fifth of 15 outs Kranick recorded, needing just 50 pitches (and 36 strikes) to get them. It was a dominant debut that conjured up memories of Nick Kingham carrying a perfect game into the seventh inning against these same Cardinals on April 29, 2018 at PNC Park.
