With trust in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen fading, Geoff Hartlieb and Nick Burdi stepped onto the mound Tuesday night and offered hope in an 8-6 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.
Both pitchers recorded firsts while helping the Pirates recover from a 6-2 deficit they faced in the seventh inning. Hartlieb earned the victory with two scoreless innings and Burdi the save after a 1-2-3 ninth (thanks to a game-ending double play).
“Yeah, it’s good for him,” manager Derek Shelton said of Burdi, who suffered serious nerve damage last season and spent most of 2019 recovering from surgery. “Any time you can get the last three outs of a game, and you learn to get the last three outs of a game, it’s an important step forward.”
Hartlieb was summoned from Altoona, the Pirates’ satellite camp, earlier in the day after relievers Clay Holmes and Kyle Crick were put on the injured list.
“Not the easiest situation,” Shelton said, “when you drive over in a car and you get put in the heart of that game and you go back out in the eighth (for his second inning) and do what he did.
“First big league win. I mean, I experienced that a couple days ago. It’s a cool experience. It’s fun to be able to congratulate a guy on his first big league win.”
None of it might have been possible without a timely display of power by second baseman Adam Frazier, who broke a 6-6 tie in the eighth inning with a two-run homer into the rightfield bleachers.
It was a welcome sight for a team that had been struggling collectively at the plate after a 1-3 start to the seaason.
“First ball I’ve driven all year. It felt pretty good,” said Frazier, who came into the game with two hits (singles) in 16 at-bats.
“Hopefully, we can all start picking it up here soon. We were pressing a little too hard, each of us. You forget how to do something, then you’re trying to do it instead of letting the pitcher come to you and being the aggressor.”
The game also featured firsts for Cole Tucker, who started in rightfield, and Bryan Reynolds, who had been hitless (0 for 13) in the first four games. Tucker singled in a four-run seventh and doubled ahead of Frazier’s blast. Reynolds was 2 for 4 with a single in a two-run second.
“Yeah, I was sweating it, but I still trusted that I would get another hit at some point,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds’ biggest play, however, may have been throwing out Ryan Braun at home plate in the eighth inning for a double play and one of the Pirates’ two outfield assists. Guillermo Heredia got the other, gunning down Orlando Arcia at third base. On both plays, the Pirates recorded outs on slick pick-ups by third baseman Phillip Evans and catcher John Ryan Murphy.
“Those two plays stand out to me as keeping us in that ball game,” Frazier said, “and allowing us to be there at the end.”
Starting pitcher Derek Holland also recorded an assist, picking off Avisail Garcia at first base in the second inning. But his best effort was allowing the Brewers only two hits. He left in a 2-2 tie after Keston Huira’s homer in the sixth.
“Really good effort,” Shelton said of Holland, who struck out five in 5 2/3 innings. “Honestly, he made one bad pitch.”
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Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports
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Career firsts by pitchers Geoff Hartlieb, Nick Burdi lead Pirates to 8-6 victory - TribLIVE
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