Tony Watson pitches to the Cubs in the ninth inning Wednesday at PNC Park. — GETTY
BY JOHN PERROTTO
Sights, sounds and the scene at PNC Park …
• Tony Watson went into some uncomfortable, if not quite uncharted, territory.
The left-hander got the last six outs for the save last night as the Pirates held off the Cubs, 4-3, and closer Mark Melancon was given a break after throwing 25 pitches in a blown-save loss Tuesday.
Yes, Melancon still has the word ‘closer’ in front of his name. Clint Hurdle hasn’t taken him out of that role despite his difficult start to the season. More on that in a bit.
What Watson did was out of the ordinary for a couple of reasons. First, saves of more than one inning in a close game almost never happen in the modern game. Second, Watson pitched two full innings just three times in a National League-high 78 appearances last season when he was selected to the All-Star Game and finished with a 1.63 ERA.
For Watson, though, it truly wasn’t a big deal.
“It’s just part of the gig sometimes,” he said with a smile. “I knew what the situation was tonight with Mel down. I knew there was a chance I’d pitch two innings. I was ready for it.”
This wasn’t an easy gig, though.
Watson relieved Jared Hughes in the eighth with a 4-1 lead, but the Cubs had bases loaded and nobody out. It is the type of jam in which Hughes typically bails out a teammates, but the role was reversed this time.
Miguel Montero hit an RBI single, Chris Coghlan drove in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder, and Watson preserved the 4-3 lead by getting Jonathan Herrera to foul out and highly touted rookie Addison Russell to foul out.
“A lot of us in the bullpen have been together for a few years now, and we’ve become a very tight-knit group,” Watson said. “You take a lot of pride in picking other guys up if they’re struggling. Jared needed picked up, and I got him. Mel needs picked up right now, and we’re all there for him.”
• Melancon is remaining the closer despite his 8.53 ERA, six runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, as well as deeper concerns about his cut fastball velocity being down 2-3 mph.
“Eighty percent of your pitchers pitch with the same velocities all through spring,” Hurdle said. “And then the season starts, and about 80 percent of the time, there’s a spike. I’ve seen it in almost every year I’ve ever been involved in the game. We haven’t seen the spike from Mark yet. We saw it from Tony Watson. Tony’s velocity was down in spring training compared to what it was during the season. Jared Hughes’ velocity was down in spring training compared to what it was back to last season. These are all conversations we continually have. Then you wait for the season, you see what happens. Watson has spiked back up. Hughes has spiked back up. From my experience, I’m thinking Melancon is a couple weeks behind, for whatever reason. I don’t have an answer for why on that, nor does he.”
• Vance Worley won his second straight start, allowing one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings. However, it was far from a smooth outing, as the right-hander threw 106 pitches while allowing six hits and two walks.
Worley admitted he would have caved in if this were two years ago when was he was pitching for the Twins. However, he said the success last season with the Pirates has allowed him to keep his confidence even when his stuff isn’t the best.
“It wasn’t always easy and my pitches weren’t always going where I wanted, but I kept the runs off the board,” Worley said. “And keeping runs off the board is always the bottom line when you’re a pitcher, regardless of how you do it. You can’t give in. You’ve got to try making pitches.”
• It was a miserable night at PNC Park, 42 degrees when the game started with the wind blowing out to center field at 13 mph. It only got worse, including a brief snow squall in the seventh inning.
Worley said winning in bad weather is a character builder.
“Hey, it we can win in this weather than we can win in anything,” he said with a smile. “You’re not going to have conditions worse than this very often.”
• And because you can never go too long without a Charlie Morton injury update, the right-hander will pitch in an extended spring training game today in Bradenton, Fla. If he makes it through the 65-pitch limit without injuring his surgically repaired right hip or another body part, then his next step will be a rehab start with the Class A Marauders in the same city.
John Perrotto is a freelance writer for DKonPittsburghSports.com.
April 23, 2015
On the scene with Perrotto: Hardly elementary
29by Dejan Kovacevic • On the scene • Tags: Pirates
Tony Watson pitches to the Cubs in the ninth inning Wednesday at PNC Park. — GETTY
BY JOHN PERROTTO
Sights, sounds and the scene at PNC Park …
• Tony Watson went into some uncomfortable, if not quite uncharted, territory.
The left-hander got the last six outs for the save last night as the Pirates held off the Cubs, 4-3, and closer Mark Melancon was given a break after throwing 25 pitches in a blown-save loss Tuesday.
Yes, Melancon still has the word ‘closer’ in front of his name. Clint Hurdle hasn’t taken him out of that role despite his difficult start to the season. More on that in a bit.
What Watson did was out of the ordinary for a couple of reasons. First, saves of more than one inning in a close game almost never happen in the modern game. Second, Watson pitched two full innings just three times in a National League-high 78 appearances last season when he was selected to the All-Star Game and finished with a 1.63 ERA.
For Watson, though, it truly wasn’t a big deal.
“It’s just part of the gig sometimes,” he said with a smile. “I knew what the situation was tonight with Mel down. I knew there was a chance I’d pitch two innings. I was ready for it.”
This wasn’t an easy gig, though.
Watson relieved Jared Hughes in the eighth with a 4-1 lead, but the Cubs had bases loaded and nobody out. It is the type of jam in which Hughes typically bails out a teammates, but the role was reversed this time.
Miguel Montero hit an RBI single, Chris Coghlan drove in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder, and Watson preserved the 4-3 lead by getting Jonathan Herrera to foul out and highly touted rookie Addison Russell to foul out.
“A lot of us in the bullpen have been together for a few years now, and we’ve become a very tight-knit group,” Watson said. “You take a lot of pride in picking other guys up if they’re struggling. Jared needed picked up, and I got him. Mel needs picked up right now, and we’re all there for him.”
• Melancon is remaining the closer despite his 8.53 ERA, six runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, as well as deeper concerns about his cut fastball velocity being down 2-3 mph.
“Eighty percent of your pitchers pitch with the same velocities all through spring,” Hurdle said. “And then the season starts, and about 80 percent of the time, there’s a spike. I’ve seen it in almost every year I’ve ever been involved in the game. We haven’t seen the spike from Mark yet. We saw it from Tony Watson. Tony’s velocity was down in spring training compared to what it was during the season. Jared Hughes’ velocity was down in spring training compared to what it was back to last season. These are all conversations we continually have. Then you wait for the season, you see what happens. Watson has spiked back up. Hughes has spiked back up. From my experience, I’m thinking Melancon is a couple weeks behind, for whatever reason. I don’t have an answer for why on that, nor does he.”
• Vance Worley won his second straight start, allowing one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings. However, it was far from a smooth outing, as the right-hander threw 106 pitches while allowing six hits and two walks.
Worley admitted he would have caved in if this were two years ago when was he was pitching for the Twins. However, he said the success last season with the Pirates has allowed him to keep his confidence even when his stuff isn’t the best.
“It wasn’t always easy and my pitches weren’t always going where I wanted, but I kept the runs off the board,” Worley said. “And keeping runs off the board is always the bottom line when you’re a pitcher, regardless of how you do it. You can’t give in. You’ve got to try making pitches.”
• It was a miserable night at PNC Park, 42 degrees when the game started with the wind blowing out to center field at 13 mph. It only got worse, including a brief snow squall in the seventh inning.
Worley said winning in bad weather is a character builder.
“Hey, it we can win in this weather than we can win in anything,” he said with a smile. “You’re not going to have conditions worse than this very often.”
• And because you can never go too long without a Charlie Morton injury update, the right-hander will pitch in an extended spring training game today in Bradenton, Fla. If he makes it through the 65-pitch limit without injuring his surgically repaired right hip or another body part, then his next step will be a rehab start with the Class A Marauders in the same city.
John Perrotto is a freelance writer for DKonPittsburghSports.com.
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