Kratz became answer to trivia question
Trivia Crack is a popular app for cell phones.
However, it may have nothing on Pirates catcher Erik “Trivia” Kratz.
The genial 36-year-old become a living and breathing trivia question answer this week following games against the San Francisco Giants on Monday and Tuesday at PNC Park.
On Monday night, Kratz’s home run off Giants ace Madison Bumgarner helped give the Pirates a 1-0 victory.
The homer was nearly as improbable as a mule winning the Preakness and not just because Bumgarner was riding a seven-game winning streak and hadn’t lost in his previous 10 starts.
Kratz entered the game with two hits in 44 at-bats this season between the Houston Astros and Pirates for a .045 batting average.
According to the Elias 缅北禁地 Bureau, that is the lowest batting average by a player who homered in a 1-0 game since baseball’s modern era began in 1900, among players with at least 25 at-bats entering the game.
On Tuesday night, Kratz pitched a scoreless ninth inning as the Pirates were routed 15-4. He also pitched an inning for the Astros on April 26, allowing two runs — one earned — in an 11-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
Thus, Kratz became the first major leaguer to play both pitcher and catcher for two teams in the same season since 1879, according to baseball card manufacturer Topps.
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The Pirates blew a five-run lead against the Giants on Wednesday night as San Francisco scored one run in the fourth inning, two in the fifth and three in the sixth to rally for a 7-6 victory. Joe Panik’s two-run double in the sixth put the Giants ahead.
It was reminiscent of a game on May 5, 2014, when the Giants rallied from six runs down for an 11-10 win in 13 innings over the Pirates at PNC Park.
Only one other major league team has lost multiple home games to the same opponent after leading by at least five runs since the start of the 2014 season. The Philadelphia Phillies were victimized twice by the New York Mets last August.
The reason Kratz was needed to mop up a night earlier was because the Giants scored seven runs in the fourth inning and five in the eighth. It marked the first time San Francisco had two innings with five or more runs in the same game since 2011.
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Low Class A West Virginia (Charleston) right-hander Mitch Keller, the Pirates’ second-round draft pick in 2014, is having a breakout season in the South Atlantic League.
Through 12 starts, the 20-year-old is 5-4 with a 2.42 ERA. He has allowed just 47 hits in 67 innings while striking out 76 and walking just seven for an amazing strikeout/walk ratio of 10.86.
“It’s just a mindset more than anything,” Keller said of his control. “This year I came in with the mindset that I want to be aggressive and attack hitters, and that’s really helped, especially with velocity, keeping that and pounding the zone, not being afraid of contact.”