A game that began with a top prospect pitching nearly ended with a position player pitching.
And Pirates fans are livid at manager Clint Hurdle for sparing them that delightful TV. In the moments after Sean Rodriguez grounded into a double play with two on and no outs in the 10th inning Wednesday night, with the Pirates trailing 6-5, my Twitter mentions were in unison.
@stephenjnesbitt why on earth didn't he bunt?
— Rich Dietrich (@PantherRich) June 9, 2016
@stephenjnesbitt why in the hell did hurdle not have S Rod bunt there?
— Jamie Miller (@jmiller81188) June 9, 2016
@stephenjnesbitt how do you not bunt.
— Robert Baker (@baseballfan30) June 9, 2016
Managers don’t always like to talk about bunting — it’s kind of a no-win argument.
But here’s Hurdle’s full explanation for his decision:
“I think there could be a case [to be made for having Rodriguez bunt]. But look at the situation we're dealing with. [Cory] Luebke is our last pitcher. There are no other pitchers. There's not a starter than can go in the game — [Francisco] Liriano and [Gerrit] Cole threw sides today. [Jeff] Locke is pitching tomorrow. [Juan] Nicasio and [Jon] Niese just pitched — they're out of bullets.
“You can bunt [Rodriguez] and move them up to second and third, and then do you let Luebke hit because he's your only pitcher? Do you go ahead and let [pinch-hitter Chris] Stewart hit to try to drive them in, knowing your next pitcher is going to be Sean Rodriguez? Or do you let Sean Rodriguez hit, drive in the run, and now you can let Luebke bunt, and he stays in the game? Those were the choices I had that I was working through. I decided to let Rodriguez swing the bat. If he drives in a run, Luebke can bunt and I've got a pitcher out there on the mound.”
Fair points abound. Had Stewart or David Freese gotten a run or two home, by the way, Rodriguez would have pitched in a tied game or a save situation. That would have been neat.
Gregory Polanco was 3 for 5 with three doubles tonight, raising his average to .308.
“Special to watch him tonight,” Hurdle said. “He's doing some things that grab your attention. The doubles. Even the outs.”
Right-hander Jared Hughes served up a game-tying, two-run home run to Michael Conforto in the eighth inning — “Hughes just misfired one,” Hurdle said — but it was the next misfire, the ball that whizzed behind Yoenis Cespedes’ head, that got home-plate umpire Alan Porter’s attention. He warned both benches, which seemed premature, as it seemed the ball had gotten away from Hughes and an athletic trainer quickly was out to check on the pitcher.
Hughes explained later a callous on his right hand had broken open.
“[Porter] assessed the warning before he had any idea there was a blister,” Hurdle said. “The ball went behind the hitter, he said, which in and of itself, for him, puts the game in a precarious position where they might take issue with it and maybe retaliate.
“We mentioned it was a changeup. It was a fastball. I said, by the way, looks like we're working with a little [injury] issue out here. It didn't matter. He'd already issued the warnings. Once they issue them, they're not going to pull them back in.”
Matt Joyce was ejected in the seventh for arguing balls and strikes.
“He felt he had a case, and I haven't had a chance to have a conversation,” Hurdle said. “... You never want to see players get thrown out late. There's no doubt about that."
Stephen J. Nesbitt: snesbitt@post-gazette.com and Twitter @stephenjnesbitt.
First Published: June 9, 2016, 5:21 a.m.