WASHINGTON — Trevor Williams won’t pitch in the final series of the season, as the Pirates opted for to give the start Sunday to Steven Brault, who will take the mound against the Washington Nationals.
So that leaves Williams, who studied history at Arizona State University, with a long weekend to explore the nation’s capital. On Friday, Williams will join a group of teammates to visit wounded troops at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, but he also said he’d like to tour the U.S. Capitol and the National Museum of National History.
“I’m an American history major, so it’s one of those things where like, how can I not?” Williams said.
The Pirates opened a four-game series against the Nationals Thursday. The Nationals long ago locked up the National League East title and are considered strong contenders to make the World Series. Curiously enough, they will do so with a better record on the road than at home. Entering Thursday’s game, they are 45-32 at Nationals Park, compared with 50-31 away. Even if they sweep the Pirates, they’ll still end up with a better road record this season.
The Pirates, on the other hand, are 29-48 in away games and 44-37 at PNC Park. As fun as visiting museums in Washington might be, the road hasn’t been kind to the Pirates this season.
“I’d say over 75 percent of the time your home numbers are always better,” manager Clint Hurdle guessed.
It’s an even steeper number — closer to 87 percent: As of Thursday, all but four MLB teams have better home records than away. That quartet of teams who are better on the road also are all headed to the postseason, probably speaking less to struggles at home than to how balanced those squads are. Hurdle said random chance — like how teams’ schedules align with players’ injuries — could account for why some teams do better on the road. Meanwhile, the Pirates are currently one of nine teams with fewer than 30 road wins, although that could change this weekend.
“They have a kind of club that should be able to win in both places,” Hurdle said of the Nationals.
While his approach doesn’t change from one stadium to another, catcher Chris Stewart noted how some fields play to a team’s insider knowledge, pointing out the air vents and roof at the Milwaukee Brewers’ Miller Park as one example.
“I remember one game both were open and the ball was just crazy flying out, and they deliberately were trying to hit fly balls a certain way,” Stewart said. (The Pirates were 3-6 at Milwaukee this season.)
Stewart said he likes enjoys road trips — he’ll join the group at Walter Reed and said he’d like to check out monuments on the National Mall — and couldn’t put his finger on one reason why the Pirates have found so much more success at home, outside of the usual explanations.
“Usually home-field advantage is the key to the game, especially in baseball,” he said. “The rules, they’re on the home team’s side — you know, getting the last at-bat in the ninth inning, stretch your game plan according to that, your bullpen, whatever.”
Job well done
Even though he went six innings and allowed only one run Tuesday against the Baltimore Orioles, Williams will be skipped Sunday in what would have been his usual turn in the rotation.
“I thought he put a nice exclamation point to the end of his season,” Hurdle said of Williams. “Twenty-five starts, 150 innings, closed strong, job well done.”
Williams, who ended his rookie campaign with a 7-9 record, 25 starts and a 4.07 ERA, said he was “good either way.”
“We talked. I wanted to make the last start,” he said. “You always want to end the season on a good note, and it was a pretty good game the other night, I thought.
“And then the last game of the year, you never know what could happen. It’s a crapshoot. It could be a really easy game, quick outs, or it could snowball fast,” he said, noting that it’s unclear whom the postseason-bound Nationals might start Sunday.
Over 19 innings in September — including three starts and one three-inning save — Brault, who will get the start, has posted a 2.37 ERA and 10 strikeouts. The 25-year-old left hander also was named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year.
“He pitched great this year,” Williams said of Brault. “He’s pitched well since he’s been up. He deserves to get at least one more.”
Elizabeth Bloom: ebloom@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1750 and Twitter: @BloomPG.
First Published: September 28, 2017, 10:44 p.m.