Good pitching beats good hitting
PITTSBURGH 鈥� There鈥檚 an old adage in baseball that good pitching always beats good hitting.
If you don鈥檛 agree with it, then you weren鈥檛 watching the Pirates鈥� 5-4 victory over the Tigers in Pittsburgh鈥檚 home opener at PNC Park on Monday afternoon.
Detroit entered the game unbeaten at 6-0 and as the best-hitting squad in the major leagues with a team average of .355. They had scored 47 runs, their most this early in the season since 1929, and were pushing across 7.8 runs a game.
The Tigers have been flashing early speed also with 10 steals, tied for the most in baseball.
But, you can鈥檛 steal if you can鈥檛 get on base.
Pirates starter Gerrit Cole made sure of that.
The Bucs鈥� young ace dominated Detroit鈥檚 potent lineup for the first six frames, allowing only a second-inning single and a fifth-inning walk. He struck out eight, including four in a row at one point.
The last one in that sequence was against the red-hot hitting Miguel Cabrera, who entered the game with a .520 average. In a titantic battle, Cabrera fouled off three 3-2 pitches before Cole got him swinging.
Cole showed again that he is developing into one of the game鈥檚 top starting pitchers.
鈥淗e was really good today,鈥� Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his 24-year-old right-hander. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lineup that鈥檚 playing as big as any lineup in the major leagues right now from top to bottom.
鈥淗e used both sides of the plate. The fastball command makes him dynamic because then the other pitches just play, whether it鈥檚 an 84-mile-an-hour hook, an 89-mile-an-hour slider 鈥� the change-up goes into play as well.
鈥淥ne of the things he wants to be is a master craftsman out on the mound and you saw that today.鈥�
Though he looked calm on the mound, Cole admitted he had some pregame jitters with 39,933 fans looking on.
鈥淭here were some butterflies early for sure before the game,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e hot. There鈥檚 a lot of emotion coming into the game, a lot of excitement. Luckily I was able to calm those down.鈥�
Location was the key against the Tigers鈥� powerful offense, according to Cole.
鈥淔or the most part we stayed down and just tried to work the ball in and out and that seemed to work for us today,鈥� Cole said.
A.J. Burnett, who returned to the Pirates this year after a one-year stint in Philadelphia, was impressed with Cole.
鈥淗e was in control,鈥� Burnett said. 鈥淗is body composure told me everything. I knew he was going to have a good start.
鈥淚 have to go tomorrow and one-up him.鈥�
Pirate fans showed they appreciate good pitching as they gave Burnett a loud ovation when he was introduced before the game.
鈥淚t was louder than I expected,鈥� Burnett said. 鈥淚 enjoy every bit of it. I thank everyone for it. Words can鈥檛 describe a feeling like that, coming back and having that applause, so I鈥檓 looking forward to tomorrow.鈥�
It was Cole鈥檚 show on Monday, though 鈥� until the seventh inning.
The Tigers finally mounted a threat, loading the bases with none out and chasing Cole in the process.
Enter Jared Hughes in the role he鈥檚 excelled in.
鈥淗e was our go-to guy with men on base last year,鈥� Hurdle said of the middle reliever, 鈥渁nd he鈥檚 got the weaponry to do it. His slider has developed.鈥�
Hughes induced a double-play grounder from Nick Castellanos and then a pop foul from left-handed hitting Alex Avila to end the threat with only one run scoring.
鈥淲e needed a ground ball, we needed two outs with one pitch and he was able to do that,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淎nd then make a quality pitch to beat a good hitter right after that to get out of the inning.鈥�
鈥淭hat was a hell of a job by him,鈥� Cole said.
Hughes got a thunderous roar from the fans as he walked off the mound, which he appreciated.
鈥淚 love it,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淚 love it when the crowd鈥檚 behind us like that. After getting that final out and this huge roar coming up from the stadium, everything is shaking 鈥� it鈥檚 pretty awesome.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 a matter of blocking everything out, more just the opposite, according to Hughes.
鈥淵ou have to know the situation,鈥� said the right-hander. 鈥淲ith the bases loaded you just have to pitch aggressively, get ahead in the count. That is what I was planning on doing because that鈥檚 when you have the odds in your favor as a pitcher. I wanted to go out there and throw strike one. He swung. He knew I was going to come with a strike. I got the ground ball, they made a great play back there.
鈥淭hen the next hitter it kind of changes. You have a lefty up with first base open so you don鈥檛 want to give him anything too good to hit. We ended up getting a pop fly.
鈥淚t worked out.鈥�
As it often does for the guy on the mound when good pitching faces good hitting.