Hayes leads Bucs' comeback win in opener

There’s something about a comeback victory that makes a win so much sweeter. After the Pirates lost control of an early lead, Ke’Bryan Hayes pulled Pittsburgh out of a deficit with a bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh, helping the Pirates to a 6-3 win over the Tigers.

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Hayes, who started in his second career game in the leadoff spot, finished 3-for-4 on Monday at PNC Park as the Pirates snapped their six-game losing streak. Hayes’ trio of singles were a positive sign that his bruised right hand, which forced him to sit out five games during the team’s most recent road trip, was certainly a thing of the past.

"The thought was get him [a few] at-bats, try to get him going a little bit,” manager Derek Shelton said of moving Hayes into the leadoff spot. “I asked him about it one day. I said, 'Hey, ever hit leadoff?' He said, 'Yeah, actually,' and I said, ‘All right, you're gonna do it.’ Nothing scientific behind it, just thought it'd be a good idea.”

The good idea has paid off already as Hayes has collected four hits since his return to the lineup. Though it’s his first go-round in the leadoff spot at the Major League level, Hayes sported a .294 batting average in 17 at-bats as a leadoff hitter in the Minor Leagues.

“I did it a few times in 2019 in Triple-A,” Hayes said. “Other than just being the first one to hit for the team at the beginning of the game, once the game gets going, it's just like hitting second [or] third."

The Bucs continued to pile on runs during the four-run seventh as Yoshi Tsutsugo drilled a line drive 275 feet to right field, giving Colin Moran and Hayes enough distance to score the final runs of the game. Since donning a Bucs uniform, Tsutsugo has flashed his power with seven homers among his 12 hits. On Monday, he showed that he can play small ball, as well.

"It is important if there are guys on base, and that's what I told him. I said, ‘It's OK to hit singles if you've got a couple guys on,’” Shelton said. “But he's continued to have good at-bats for us. He did a nice job today on the double-play ball, but he's played well since he's been here."

Kevin Newman started the scoring in the first inning with his fifth homer of the season. With Hayes on first base, Newman connected on an 0-1 sinker over the middle of the plate from Tigers starter Tarik Skubal.

The long ball allowed right-hander Bryse Wilson to work with a lead in his fifth start with the Pirates. Though he allowed three runs in the seventh, Wilson undoubtedly turned in his best start for Pittsburgh since he was acquired at the Trade Deadline, with six shutout innings and four strikeouts on just 83 pitches (57 strikes).

Newman, however, was one of the many defensive highlights of the game that Shelton felt put Pittsburgh in line for the win more than anything else.

"That was about as well defensively as we can play,” Shelton said. “That was really good, in all facets, man. We really played well defensively and I know we added on runs and came back, but I think we won that game because of how well we played defensively."

While the Bucs led, 2-0, in the top of the third with two outs, Jeimer Candelario connected on a fastball over the middle of the plate and smacked it to no-man’s land in shallow left-center field. It had a 51 percent hit probability, and left fielder Anthony Alford and center fielder Bryan Reynolds had a zero percent catch probability.

For Newman, however, it was a routine fly. With his back against the infield as he charged into the outfield, the shortstop made the catch with ease as the ball tailed away from him.

"That's a play that [third-base coach] Joey Cora and I work on at the end of every ground-ball routine when we're taking batting practice,” Newman said. “We've done it every single day, and this is the first day that it showed up in the game, but off the bat, it's kind of just a sprint backward and look up and try to find the ball.

“It's kind of just a timing thing and knowing where your outfielders are. I knew that they weren't going to have the chance to get there, so I was just going to do my best to try to get to the ball."