Pirates-Reds: Both Teams See Reasons to Hope

I’m not big on writing game recaps—there are just so many different people who write them (ESPN, Yahoo, AP, local papers, etc.), and they all have better resources than I do, such as being in the press box, interviewing players, and the like.

But tonight’s Pirates-Reds game was a big one for both teams, and I noticed a couple things that might not show up in your average game report.

Both teams had much to look forward to going into the game. For the Reds, it was the debut of Jay Bruce, Baseball America’s top prospect. For the Pirates, it was the return of shortstop and team leader Jack Wilson, who had been sidelined for seven weeks with a hamstring injury. Neither player disappointed.

Cincinnati fans got a glimpse of their club’s future today, and it looked bright. Bruce could do no wrong in his debut, going 3-3 with a double, two walks, two RBI, and a stolen base.

Bruce looked completely in control, not at all phased by the situation. Two of his hits were to the opposite field, and he was patient in all five of his plate appearances. He showed his power in his final at-bat, lining a double to right-center field. Granted, this is a very limited sample, but Bruce certainly looked like the real deal tonight.

Much less noticed, especially as the game got away from the Pirates in the middle innings, was Wilson’s performance. The Pittsburgh shortstop quietly put together three hits and got in the middle of a couple rallies. Nate McLouth struggled, but if Wilson continues to get on base in front of him, the dynamic of the Pirate offense will change.

More importantly, Wilson showed no signs of a lingering injury. He legged out a bunt single in his first at bat, forcing a throwing error from Johnny Cueto in addition, and looked his usual stellar self in the field. Wilson made a few above-average plays, and almost pulled off a near-impossible twisting, diving grab on a line drive off a Cincy hit-and-run play.

Wilson’s return should go a long way towards stabilizing the Pirates, both offensively and defensively. Wilson is a far better shortstop than the players who had been replacing him, so Pittsburgh pitchers will benefit substantially from his return.

At the plate, Wilson is the experienced number-two hitter the Pirates need. He is the perfect bridge from Freddy Sanchez to McLouth, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, and Adam LaRoche. His return also gives the Pirates a decent bench, as Chris Gomez and Luis Rivas now become nightly pinch-hitting options.

Finally, Brian Bixler is now back where he belongs, getting nightly at bats in AAA. He simply isn’t ready for The Show yet.

A couple other notes, including some praise for John Russell:

Four innings into this game, I thought the biggest development was going to be Ian Snell’s return to form. He looked like an ace again—he was aggressive and was finishing off hitters with his sharp breaking stuff.

Then, in the fifth and sixth innings, he reverted to the form with which Pirate fans have been all too familiar this season. He couldn’t hit the strike zone, flirted with disaster by pitching around batters and putting men on base, and then that disaster came. I thought John Russell should have pulled Snell after the fifth. In hindsight, I was clearly right.

That aside, I cannot commend Russell more strongly for the way he is leading this young team. In the bottom of the seventh inning, his team down 9-3 at the time, Russell double switched, bringing in Chris Gomez to hit in the pitcher’s slot and lead off the subsequent inning.

The move was minor, but its significance was not. Much has been made this year about the Pirates’ “attitude.” How they never give up on a game. How they have fought back from multiple deficits this season. This determination was on display this weekend, as the Pirates tied the game in the ninth inning in consecutive games against the vaunted Cubs’ bullpen and went on to win both games in dramatic fashion.

This attitude—the idea of playing hard until all 27 outs have been recorded, of never giving up—can’t just be something the players feel when they are down 5-4 in the ninth. It needs to be a constant, pervasive belief, one that the players feel when they are down, say, 9-3 in the bottom of the seventh.

And when Russell makes that double-switch in the seventh, what the players see is that their manager, their leader, is not giving up. And then the players continued to focus and play hard, scoring three runs in the ninth inning.

And it wasn’t just about racking up stats, either: Sure, Adam LaRoche and Ronny Paulino aren’t complaining about adding another home run to each of their meager totals, but there was also Chris Gomez fighting off a couple pitches with a full count and walking in order to not become that twenty-seventh out.

The Pirates’ fight even had some more tangible benefits: After Gomez walked, the Reds were forced to bring in closer Francisco Cordero to record the game’s final out. This was the first game of a three-game set against a team that played 18 innings Sunday.

Who knows if Cordero pitching tonight will have any effect on the next two games? But there’s always that chance, and good teams create that chance.

Slowly but surely, John Russell is showing these Pirates how to become a good team. It might not be a very quick process, and there’s only so much a manager can do—he isn’t in the starting rotation, for example, which is what is holding Pittsburgh back—but Russell is certainly doing his part in the Pirates’ rebuilding process.