All Isiah Kiner-Falefa wanted to do was put the ball in play and give the Pittsburgh Pirates a chance to make something happen.
Batting ninth in the lineup, Kiner-Falefa found a way to reach base in four of his five plate appearances. The Pirates shortstop had the 40th three-hit game of his career, going 3 for 4 with two RBIs on a single in the fifth inning and a ground-rule double in the ninth of a 9-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night in Anaheim.
“My teammates did a good job of being in scoring position so I got rewarded just for putting the ball in play,” Kiner-Falefa told SportsNet Pittsburgh in an on-field interview. “They just passed the baton. We’ve got to play pass-the-baton baseball and give it to the next guy and let the next guy do the job.”
The Pirates did just that with a season-best 18 hits against the Angels, and the bottom of the order combined for seven. No. 7 hitter Adam Frazier went 1 for 2 with three walks and two runs scored, and Tommy Pham followed by going 3 for 5 with a run batting eighth.
The trio got the Pirates’ offense going before it even scored any runs. They loaded the bases in the second inning, with Frazier hitting a two-out single to right, Pham reaching on a grounder to third and Kiner-Falefa drawing a walk before Oneil Cruz grounded out to second.
“The bottom of our order did a really good job,” Shelton said. “Tommy had three hits. Izzy had three hits. Fraz had a hit and three walks. The bottom of the order kind of propelled us.”
Frazier and Pham were two of the last players expected to do so. Frazier was batting .209 entering Tuesday’s game, but extended his hitting streak to six games. Pham was batting .149 through his first 21 games. Kiner-Falefa, however, improved his batting average to a team-best .293 while hitting mostly out of the nine-hole.
Yet it was the second consecutive game the trio came through at the bottom of the order. Pham went 2 for 4 with a run, Frazier 1 for 4 with a run and two RBIs and Kiner-Falefa 1 for 4 in the 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday at PNC Park. They also combined for two of the Pirates’ five hits in the 1-0 win over Washington on Thursday.
Against the Angels, their contributions continued on the defensive side, as Pham made two terrific catches in left field. The first saved a run from scoring, as Pham sprinted to chase down a line drive by Jo Adell with Nolan Schanuel at first base to keep the game scoreless in the second inning. Pham later robbed Adell of a home run for the final out of the game, making a catch against the left field wall that had him holding his ribs afterward.
“It was awesome,” Kiner-Falefa said, noting that Pham entered the game leading all major league left fielders with 4 defensive runs saved. “Tommy’s actually a top-five DRS player in the league right now, so he’s been doing awesome on defense. That shows a lot about his character. He’s not been swinging the bat the way he wants to but he’s out there playing good defense. He’s one of the top metrics defenders in the league right now, so it’s awesome to see him get some hits.”