The Pittsburgh Pirates surprised Andrew Heaney by bringing his family to the home clubhouse for a pregame celebration for reaching 10 years of major-league service Thursday morning.
For someone who dislikes being the center of attention, Heaney squirmed through a video tribute and giving a speech. A table with carved watermelons and decorated cupcakes representing his six teams over 12 seasons was placed in the middle of the room, and Heaney was presented a champagne bottle painted by local artist Cody Sabol.
Then the 33-year-old left-hander gave reason to pop the cork.
Oneil Cruz hit his first career leadoff home run, and Heaney protected the one-run lead by tossing 7 1/3 scoreless innings before walking off the mound to an ovation from the crowd in a 1-0 win over the Washington Nationals before 12,748 on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.
“There are (fewer than) 10% of major-league players that play for 10 years,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “You have to be pretty damn good to do it, and he is.”
Heaney painted the zone with strikes on 61 of his 96 pitches to propel the Pirates (8-12) to their first shutout of the season and win three in the four-game series. Following his second quality start this season and first win with the Pirates, Heaney showed appreciation for how his day started and ended.
“It’s something I’m extremely grateful for, thankful for,” Heaney said. “When it boils down to it, I just wanted to go out there and pitch. I wanted us to win a series. We were up 2-1 in a series. I wanted to go 3-1 in a series. I don’t want to split with these guys. I want us to win. That was front of my mind.”
Related
• MLB suspends Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez 3 games, manager Dave Martinez 1 game
• After benches clear, Oneil Cruz hits a grand slam as Pirates pound Nationals
• U mad, bro? Steelers, Pirates and Penguins fans are disgusted, dismayed and disenfranchised
After Bailey Falter allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings in a 6-1 win Wednesday night, the Pirates got a second consecutive efficient start from a lefty as Heaney threw 61 of 96 pitches for strikes and allowed five hits and two walks while recording four strikeouts.
Per Elias Sports Bureau, Falter and Heaney became the first pair of Pirates lefty starters to throw seven-plus scoreless innings in consecutive games since John Candelaria and Larry McWilliams in July 1982.
“Bailey had a couple words for me before, we talked about it and that’s great,” Heaney said. “I think that’s the kind of thing that can make you feel like it’s a downhill train. You’re just trying to build on that momentum and keep going, keep going, keep going and it just feels relentless.”
When Nationals starter Trevor Williams left a knee-high 0-1 slider over the middle of the plate, Cruz crushed it 442 feet to right-center at an exit velocity of 114.5 mph for his fourth home run of the season.
“We knew he could impact the game,” Shelton said of Cruz. “He has done it before. He can change the game from the top, and today he did.”
It was the second consecutive game in which Cruz homered, after his heroics of hitting his first career grand slam in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 6-1 win. It was the sixth time in his career that Cruz homered in back-to-back games, and he became the first MLB player to hit a grand slam and a leadoff home run in consecutive plate appearances since Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros did so in June 2021, and the first Pirate to do so since Kirk Gibson in April 1992.
It also marked only the second time since at least 1900 that the Pirates won a game 1-0 with a leadoff home run, per Elias Sports Bureau. Carlos Garcia provided the first instance Sept. 14, 1993, in a six-inning win at the Florida Marlins.
But as the Pirates went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position in stranding seven, it became clear Heaney and the bullpen would have to protect the one-run lead.
Heaney twice got out of jams with runners in scoring position. In the second inning, Nathaniel Lowe hit a leadoff single and advanced to third on a single by Dylan Crew, but Heaney got Luis Garcia Jr. to ground into a forceout, Jacob Young to line out to short and Riley Adams to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Heaney escaped another tense moment after replacing a shredded shoelace in the middle of facing James Wood in the sixth, when Amed Rosario singled to right with two outs and Lowe followed with a double to left. But Heaney got Crews to fly out to right to end the frame.
“I thought the sixth was very impressive,” Shelton said. “He did a very good job. He was just able to execute. Then he went out in the seventh and threw (12) pitches, was really efficient. Overall, mixed and matched all day long, kept them off balance, did a really nice job.”
Featured Local Businesses
The Nationals threatened again in the eighth, when Nasim Nunez drew a full-count walk and advanced to second on Alex Call’s sacrifice bunt. That’s when Shelton turned to the bullpen, bringing in lefty Ryan Borucki to relieve Heaney. Borucki got Wood to ground out to short for the second out, and Ke’Bryan Hayes made a backhand snare of a short hop down the third-base line to prevent Nunez from scoring.
Dennis Santana replaced Borucki to get the final two outs in the ninth for the save, but this was a day that belonged to Heaney.
“He stepped up and really went out and showed why he is a 10-year major-league veteran,” Shelton said. “That was really impressive.”