Through their first 16 games of the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ body of work had not featured much offensive proficiency or production.
A majority of players in any given nightly batting order owning sub-Mendoza Line averages served as a constant reminder of the club’s slow offensive start.
As a team, the Pirates were batting just .192 to begin the year, worst in MLB.
While their 10-3 win over the Washington Nationals on Monday in game No. 17 of 2025 doesn’t erase weeks’ worth of offensive ineptitude, it still featured a refreshing amount of output and clutch hitting.
The Pirates (6-11) set new season highs in runs and hits (14) and went 8 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
“I just think we were a little more aggressive offensively today and took advantage of hitters’ counts,” said right fielder Andrew McCutchen, who was 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and runs in the win.
“When we got pitches to hit, we hit ‘em. When you’re struggling, you can be a little passive, start chasing a little more. You’re behind a lot of counts. We were just a little more aggressive today, waiting for our pitch and doing the job. I think we did that. We did a good job of it. We kept it going throughout the game. We were able to have a good game today. Hopefully we can keep doing it.”
The Pirates scored runs on every Nationals pitcher who took the hill Monday.
Starter Brad Lord gave up four in 4⅓ innings before he departed the game, while the Pirates added another off his immediate relief, Colin Poche.
After knocking Jackson Rutledge out of the game in the eighth, the Pirates roughed up Eduardo Salazar, plating a total of five runs on six hits in the eighth.
Washington scored a run in the top of the eighth, trimming the Pirates’ lead to 5-3, but by the end of inning, the game had turned into a blowout.
“We kept the foot on the gas, which I was very pleased with,” said manager Derek Shelton.
Still time... Enmanuel Valdez has his 3rd RBI of the night!!! https://t.co/2IvV42sFKBpic.twitter.com/hXYCBdrlnD
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 15, 2025
Come for the 2 runs driven in by Ke'Bryan Hayes, stay for the celebration
NECKLACES.
106.1 MPH exit velocity, .660 xBA pic.twitter.com/F9rwjdefmM
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 15, 2025
Monday marked only the third time this year that the Pirates have managed five or more runs.
Their production in the first game of four against Washington easily dwarfed what was managed over last weekend’s three-game sweep in Cincinnati (five runs, 10 hits).
All nine batters in the lineup recorded a hit for the Pirates, with Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Enmanuel Valdez, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Adam Frazier finishing with multiple hits.
“I’ll sign up for that every night,” Shelton said. “I’m just happy that we had eight at-bats with runners in scoring position. Coming off this weekend, I was very pleased and I think it’s a credit to our players. They stuck with the approach the entire night.”
Offensively speaking, the Pirates’ win Monday offered a nice change of pace, but four total errors in the win highlighted the ongoing defensive woes that continue to plague the club.
That makes 16 errors on the year for the Pirates, second-most in baseball behind only the Boston Red Sox (19).
In the first and sixth innings, Valdez botched a pair of pickoffs from starter Paul Skenes, failing to catch well-placed throws that were nearly identical in location.
Skenes was ultimately charged with both errors.
Shortly after the failed pickoff try in the sixth, Cruz mishandled a routine ball in center field, allowing Washington’s Nathaniel Lowe to advance an extra bag into second base as a result.
Also in the sixth, Hayes committed an uncharacteristic error at third base, failing to field a grounder by Alex Call.
Hayes and Valdez also suffered baserunning gaffes Monday.
In the fifth inning, Valdez was gunned down at second trying to stretch a single into a double, while Hayes was eliminated at first base for the final out in the first inning, having rounded the bag too aggressively following an RBI single.
Granted, every player guilty of fielding or baserunning sins Monday – Hayes (2 for 4, three RBIs), Cruz (2 for 5) and Valdez (2 for 2, two walks, three RBIs) redeemed themselves with strong nights at the plate.
“We have to clean it up because in a close game, that doesn’t play,” Shelton said. “So yeah, we have some things that we have to clean up. I mean, one of the errors, the ball on (Hayes), it looked like it bounced up. That’s a tough one, and we didn’t catch two (pickoff attempts), so there’s two of them right there. The baserunning stuff though, we have to clean up. Those are things – we can’t give away outs.”