ST. LOUIS — Two nights ago at PNC Park, Ji Hwan Bae was asked about something his manager said — how he seemed to like, and really thrive, under the bright lights. After flashing one of his signature smiles, the 23-year-old South Korean ultimately agreed with Derek Shelton. Bae also explained that those weighty moments help him concentrate.
With the Pirates shifting back into division play after nine games against the American League, Bae was clearly focused Thursday against the NL Central favorite St. Louis Cardinals, making a pair of spectacular catches while also singling and scoring a run during Pittsburgh’s 5-0 victory at Busch Stadium.
“I think the energy fits me well,” said Bae, who’s also 8 for 18 (.444) in five career games against the Cardinals.
The jolt Bae has provided has lifted these Pirates (8-5). Need evidence?
Sift through social media and find the moment where Connor Joe checked on Bae, realized he was fine, and Bae was brimming with happiness. Or Bae joking after the game that Colin Holderman bought him coffee after his first incredible grab in Boston and that Vince Velasquez would have to up the ante.
It's certainly not just Bae. But there's no question that when he does something exciting, it sparks the Pirates.
"To see him be athletic and fearless out there — man, he’s so fun,” Joe said. “I think fearless is the biggest thing. He’s having fun. He’s playing with energy. He’s doing his thing, which is so fun to see.”
The victory against the Cardinals comes as an important tone-setter, a boost helping to propel this terrific start. And it came against a team that has had the Pirates’ number; since 2013, the Cardinals are 107-74 against Pittsburgh, which equates to an MLB-best .591 winning percentage.
Of course, it wasn’t just Bae’s spectacular catches in center, although they were the most attention-grabbing due to their degree of difficulty.
Velasquez, who lugged a 9.82 ERA and plenty of questions about his consistency into this one, gave the Pirates six shutout innings, scattering two singles and a double while walking two and striking out six.
The right-hander threw 60 of his 95 pitches for strikes and racked up a combined 32 called strikes and whiffs. Ten of the 18 whiffs Velasquez tallied came via his four-seam fastball, which creates deception by carrying such a high spin rate.
"My fastball does play at the top of the zone," Velasquez said. "Guys tend to not lay off of it, especially if the secondary stuff is a factor.
"That's one of the things I emphasized over the offseason: how well can I control my secondary stuff to let my fastball do what it needs to do? This is a prime example."
As the Pirates pried the game open in the eighth against the Cardinals bullpen, extending their lead from 2-0 to 4-0, Joe and Rodolfo Castro smacked back-to-back home runs.
Joe crushed a down-and-in fastball 410 feet into the Pirates bullpen. Castro extended his arms and drove a middle-out changeup to center two. Solid swings for both guys.
“I thought throughout the entire night our offense had a really solid approach,” Shelton said. “It’s a really nice bounce-back after [Wednesday].”
The first catch for Bae came in a huge situation, with runners in scoring position and two outs in the fourth inning. It looked like Velasquez missed with a fastball, firing a 94 mph four-seamer right down the middle, and Cardinals center fielder Tyler O’Neill drove it hard and far to left-center.
“I got scared for a second,” Velasquez said.
Bae gave chase, stutter-stepped when he reached the warning track and made the grab right as he crashed into the padded wall at darn near full speed. After briefly grabbing his forehead, Bae got some help from Joe and jogged off the field with a smile on his face.
Left fielder Alec Burleson had the honor of being robbed by Bae the next inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Burleson went down and got a slider and hit a sinking liner to center. Bae made a full-extension grab, then immediately looked in his glove to ensure the ball remained.
The highlight-reel catches continue an incredible stretch for Bae after he made a leaping catch at Fenway Park and hit his first MLB homer on April 4 before helping the Pirates walk off the Astros on Tuesday. They also enabled the Pirates to continue this splendid start to the season, one that has been perfectly encapsulated by young-and-fun players like Bae.
"I don’t think he’s scared,” Shelton said. “We talked the other day about liking the lights. There’s not much that really fazes him."
ON THE MOUND
After two lackluster starts, Velasquez showed what the Pirates have seen in him and why they signed him as a free agent this offseason.
The most impressive inning for Velasquez might’ve been the second, when he struck out designated hitter Nolan Gorman, O’Neill and right fielder Jordan Walker all swinging.
Walker, the precocious Cardinals rookie, saw his franchise-record 12-game hitting streak end.
Things nearly got away from Velasquez in the fourth, as he issued back-to-back two-out walks, which even further reason why the first Bae catch meant so much.
After Duane Underwood Jr. buzzed through a 1-2-3 seventh, Holderman wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, getting designated hitter Nolan Gorman to line out to Ji-Man Choi to end the frame.
AT THE PLATE
The Pirates had a tough time early against St. Louis starter Jordan Montgomery, who had won 10 of his 13 starts since the Cardinals acquired him last year for outfielder Harrison Bader. They threatened in the second, putting two on with out one, but the inning ended when perennial Gold Glover Nolan Arenado deftly snared a 100.2 mph liner hit by Bae.
Pittsburgh finally broke through in the sixth, when Andrew McCutchen chopped an elevated fastball into the left-field corner for a double and scored on the second two-bagger of the game for Carlos Santana.
Bumped up a spot in the order because Bryan Reynolds was given a day off, Santana lashed a curveball down the line, past a diving Arenado. McCutchen smartly never broke stride around third and scored easily.
Joe and Castro gave the Pirates their first back-to-back home runs since Oneil Cruz and Jack Suwinski did it last June 30, 2022, against Milwaukee. The homer was the first for Joe as a Pirate.
“I hope to do that a bunch more," Joe said. "That was really fun. To come back from the dugout and to see your teammates happy for you and giving you hugs, it’s awesome."
Shelton pinch hit for Santana in the ninth after the DH jamming his left wrist sliding into home. Santana said he struggled to grip a bat at first but was fine by postgame.
QUOTABLE
“You know how we started the sword ceremony? I think we should start one with defense. If we catch a ball we should do something special.” — Bae
UP NEXT
Johan Oviedo makes his first career start at Busch Stadium as a visitor on Friday. He’ll be opposed by right-hander Jake Woodford.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: April 14, 2023, 2:26 a.m.
Updated: April 14, 2023, 2:29 a.m.
