Pirates Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Pirates this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Cardinals 7, Pirates 3 -- Brubaker's wipeout slider
JT Brubaker induced 12 swings and misses on his slider in a five-inning start on Friday vs. the Cardinals. That's the most whiffs he's drawn on that pitch in a single start, topping his 10 slider-induced whiffs on Sept. 9, 2020, against the White Sox.

April 28: Royals 9, Pirates 6 -- Frazier ends hitless skid
Todd Frazier snapped an 0-for-14 skid to begin his Pirates career with a two-run double to right-center field in the fifth inning. He entered the series finale 0-for-10 with six strikeouts in his career against Royals left-hander Mike Minor.

April 27: Pirates 2, Royals 1 -- Another scoreless outing for Rodríguez
In order to jump above .500 for the first time since Opening Day, the Pirates needed a strong showing from their closer, and they got it. Richard Rodríguez locked down his fourth save of the season, and in the process, he extended his streak of scoreless appearances to 21, the best in the Majors.

April 25: Pirates 6, Twins 2 -- Stingy bullpen ends streak
The Pirates' bullpen has been outstanding early this season, but one of its streaks was snapped on Sunday. Nelson Cruz's leadoff home run against Chris Stratton in the eighth inning ended a stretch of 11 innings without an earned run for Pittsburg's relief corps.

April 24: Pirates 6, Twins 2 -- Bucs go B2B
Michael Perez and Kevin Newman hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning Saturday, which marked the first time that the Pirates' starting Nos. 8 and 9 batters accomplished the task since June 27, 2001, when Derek Bell and Jason Schmidt did so against the Brewers.

April 23: Twins 2, Pirates 0 -- Stallings ends no-no, skid
Jacob Stallings broke up J.A. Happ's no-hitter bid in the eighth inning of Friday's 2-0 loss at Target Field. In the process. the Pirates' primary catcher also snapped an 0-for-19 skid after beginning the season 10-for-30 with four doubles.

April 22: Pirates 4, Tigers 2 -- Evans is Bucs' OAA star
Phillip Evans prevented a go-ahead home run off the bat of Akil Baddoo in the seventh inning with a leaping attempt at the wall in left field, holding Baddoo to a double before the Pirates escaped the inning with no damage. Despite seeing time at four positions already this season (excluding pitcher and DH), Evans is one of only two Pirates to produce a positive Outs Above Average mark, tied with Kevin Newman at two.

April 21: Tigers 5, Pirates 2 (G2) -- Polanco hits a rocket
Gregory Polanco ripped a pitch from Spencer Turnbull at 116.2 mph to right fielder Robbie Grossman for a tough-luck out in Game 2 of Wednesday's doubleheader. It's the second-hardest-hit ball for an out this season, behind a 117.3 mph lineout by Giancarlo Stanton earlier in the day.

April 18: Pirates 6, Brewers 5 (10) -- Reynolds' long ball
With one out and a man on second in the top of the seventh inning, Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds cranked a go-ahead home run that nearly reached the upper deck at American Family Field. The ball traveled 436 feet according to Statcast, tying the longest home run Reynolds has hit in his career. It left the bat at 110.5 mph, which made it the eighth-hardest hit ball and third-hardest hit home run for Reynolds.

April 17: Brewers 7, Pirates 1 -- First-inning futility
With Trevor Cahill allowing five Brewers runs in the first inning, the Pirates' first-inning pitching futility continues. Their 23 runs allowed in the opening frame is last in MLB. They've allowed a first-inning run in 10 of 15 games. They sport a 12.60 first-inning ERA, which would rise to 15.75 if not for JT Brubaker throwing scoreless firsts in each of his three outings. And the five runs for Milwaukee ties only the Reds on April 7 for the most runs scored in a first inning against the Pirates this season.

April 16: Pirates 6, Brewers 1 -- Brubaker's quick work
JT Brubaker cruised through the first two innings of his six-inning start against the Brewers, needing only 14 pitches to dispatch six Milwaukee batters. That's the fewest pitches required to get through two innings for a Pirates starter since Jeff Karstens threw 14 to get through two innings vs. the Giants on April 28, 2011.

April 15: Padres 8, Pirates 3 -- Padres' power a problem for Keller
Mitch Keller allowed four hits with an exit velocity of more than 100 mph in the first inning. It was the first time he gave up multiple hits with an EV that high in the first, which set the tone for his outing, in which he went 3 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs.

April 14: Pirates 5, Padres 1 -- Polanco enters top-five list
Gregory Polanco hit his first home run of the 2021 season, marking his 47th career homer at PNC Park. That ties him with Craig Wilson for fifth place in the ballpark's history, behind Andrew McCutchen (92), Pedro Álvarez (62), Jason Bay (61) and Garrett Jones (51).

April 13: Pirates 8, Padres 4 -- Chad Kuhl's heat
Kuhl threw a 97.7 mph fastball to Wil Myers in his start on Tuesday vs. San Diego. The last time he threw a pitch that fast was June 28, 2018, when he hit 98.1 mph and 97.8 mph in the same at-bat against Todd Frazier, who is now in the Pirates' system.

April 12: Padres 6, Pirates 2 -- Cahill's whiffy cutter
Trevor Cahill drew seven whiffs on his cutter in his five-inning start on Monday. That's tied for the second-most swings-and-misses he's recorded on the offering in his 11-year career, behind an outing vs. the Angels on April 20, 2019.

April 11: Pirates 7, Cubs 1 -- Reynolds' four-hit day
After a tough 2020 season, Bryan Reynolds appears to be getting off on a better foot in '21. He made his biggest statement on Sunday, when he went 4-for-5 (all singles) to boost his slash line to .324/.378/.471 after it sat at .241/.313/.414 coming into the game. It's the third four-hit game for Reynolds, who last accomplished the feat on Aug. 3, 2019, against the Mets.

April 10: Pirates 8, Cubs 2 -- Keller brings the heat
Mitch Keller's high heater helped him record a solid five-inning start Saturday vs. the Cubs, and his fastball had high heat, too. He threw a 97.5 mph fastball to strike out Jason Heyward to end the fourth inning. It's the fastest pitch Keller has thrown since a 97.6 mph fastball to strike out Kyle Lewis on Sept. 17, 2019.

April 8: Cubs 4, Pirates 2 -- Anderson gives up unusual homer
Tyler Anderson gave up a tough-luck homer in the sixth inning, which ended up being the difference in the box score. Anderson threw an 0-1 changeup well below the strike zone to Javier Báez, but the Cubs' aggressive shortstop reached down and golfed it for a two-run homer. At 0.86 feet off the ground, the pitch was the sixth-lowest to be hit for a home run in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008).

April 7: Reds 11, Pirates 4 -- González belts first slam
Erik González provided some life for a struggling Pirates offense in the ninth inning on Wednesday, launching a grand slam off Reds reliever Amir Garrett. It also marked the first slam for González, who has 10 homers over six seasons in the Majors.

April 6: Reds 14, Pirates 1 -- Cahill allows hits off knuckle curve
After not allowing a hit off his knuckle curve in 2020, Trevor Cahill allowed two hits on the offering Tuesday vs. the Reds in his Pirates debut. The last hit off Cahill's knuckle curve was a double by Eloy Jimenez on Sept. 8, 2019.

April 5: Reds 5, Pirates 3 -- Pitchers duel at the dish
Both JT Brubaker and Reds starter José De León collected their first career hit on Monday. The last time both starting pitchers did that in a Pirates game came on July 7, 2008, when Phil Dumatrait and the Astros' Runelvys Hernandez both got their first career hit.

April 4: Cubs 4, Pirates 3 -- Unblemished Bednar
After pitching 8 2/3 scoreless innings in Spring Training, David Bednar has come out the gate during the regular season with his hometown team showing the same dominance. After striking out two batters Thursday in a spotless appearance, he retired all three Cubs that he faced in the eighth inning Sunday.

Over the span of 12 games donning a Pirates jersey (10 in spring, two in the Majors), he's struck out 20 batters and allowed only three hits and one walk in 10 2/3 innings.

April 3: Cubs 5, Pirates 1 -- Tyler Anderson misses bats
Despite topping out at only 92.9 mph on Saturday, Tyler Anderson induced 22 swings and misses in his five-inning Pirates debut against the Cubs. It's the most by a Pittsburgh pitcher in a single game since Francisco Liriano drew 24 in his start on Sept. 26, 2015. The most ever by a Pirate (since pitch tracking began in 2008) is 25, by A.J. Burnett on Sept. 21, 2013.

April 1: Pirates 5, Cubs 3 -- Hayes homers on Opening Day
Ke'Bryan Hayes hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat on Opening Day, making him just the second Pirates rookie to hit a home run on Opening Day, per Elias. The Statcast-projected 410-foot blast also made the 24-year-old Hayes the youngest Buc to homer on Opening Day since Barry Bonds in 1988.