CHICAGO — At this rate, Nick Gonzales is going to make it awfully difficult for manager Derek Shelton to ever take him out of the lineup.
The sizzling-hot second baseman got right back to work after seeing his five-game hitting streak end on Saturday, singling twice and driving in as many runs in the Pirates’ 3-2 win against the Cubs on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Gonzales’ two-out single in the fifth plated a pair and put the Pirates ahead for good, giving them just their second series victory since April 7.
Against a tough reliever in the Cubs’ Hayden Wesneski, Gonzales stayed with a sinker that ran in on his hands to rip the offering back up the middle. Gonzales credited his success Sunday to swing changes he made over the offseason that now allow him to be in the zone longer and make better contact against breaking balls.
“I put a lot of work in and put myself in the position to be most successful,” Gonzales said. “With my training, I kind of dreamt of this. So, went out and did it.”
Albeit in the brief sample size of just 10 games since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, Gonzales has gotten off to quite the start. He has already matched Rowdy Tellez’s season total for RBIs with eight.
Gonzalez was even intentionally walked in the ninth, demonstrating the kind of respect he commanded from the Cubs while driving in four runs across the series. His OPS on the year is up to .768, and that’s with smacking just two singles in his first 12 MLB at-bats of the season.
Since May 13, Gonzales has driven the ball with authority, evidenced by his two home runs, a double and his latest clutch knock.
"He's had really consistent at-bats,” Shelton said of Gonzales. “Big two-out base hit today. He went down to Triple-A, he worked on his swing, he worked on the path and I think we're seeing the benefits of it since he's been back in the big leagues."
Gonzales wasn’t alone amongst Pirates players in having a solid day at the plate. They strung together 10 hits against former Pirates hurler Jameson Taillon and company.
But as a team, they struggled to hit with runners in scoring position, going 1 for 17 in such opportunities en route to leaving 12 runners on base. Gonzales was the lone exception, coming through with the bases loaded when the Pirates and Cubs were deadlocked in a tie game.
“He stayed in the middle of the field, got the base hit and ended up being the determining factor in the game,” Shelton said.
Thanks to Gonzales’ exploits and the stingy defense of Jared Triolo — who had two hits on Sunday — the Pirates are again on the verge of having a conundrum at second base, much like in spring training when there was an open competition.
Whenever third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is on the injured list with low back inflammation, returns, it’ll be curious to see how Shelton divvies up reps between Gonzales and Triolo. In the meantime, Gonzales is swinging a hot bat, and the Pirates are reaping the rewards of calling him up earlier this month.
A confident Gonzales is faring better than his first go-around in the big leagues last season, having learned quite a deal about what it takes to succeed against MLB pitchers.
“Being up here last year and getting a taste, and also getting a taste of being sent down, that was kinda huge for me,” Gonzales said. “Working my way back up, it was long. I got sent down in August and just came up recently — I know I came up a little bit at the end of the year last year, but it was a long road. A lot of ups and downs.”
The former No. 7 overall pick has much work to do to fully live up to expectations. But, the journey he underwent to make it back to the big leagues has worked to his benefit thus far.
ON THE MOUND
Mitch Keller provided his third quality start in a row, yielding only two hits and as many earned runs. It was a fine start for Keller, whose ERA in May is just 1.29. His mark on the season is down to 3.84 as well.
Keller didn’t throw particularly many breaking balls, but his cutter was effective against the Cubs’ left-handed hitters. He needed just 82 pitches to get through six frames, and continued quite the string of success for the Pirates’ rotation.
Over the four-game series in Chicago, their starters combined to give up five earned runs across 25 ⅔ innings.
“Everyone's just in a groove right now,” Keller said. “Just trying to keep it going. Just trying to throw as many zeroes as possible. Having a good time together, and I think it's showing out there."
AT THE PLATE
Jack Suwinski, who entered Sunday’s game 6 for 40 (.150) in May with 18 strikeouts, got the Pirates on the board in the first. The slugging outfielder worked a seven-pitch at-bat against Taillon before turning on an inside fastball for a solo shot.
The homer by Suwinski was his fourth of the season, and extended some career ownage against Taillon. Suwinski was 4 for 5 with three home runs all-time against Taillon coming into Sunday.
"There's certain people that certain people see really well and Jack evidently sees [Taillon] really well,” Shelton “It was important to get on the board early today and he did that for us."
Other than Suwinski’s four-bagger and Gonzales’ timely base knock, though, the Pirates didn’t do much with their plethora of opportunities at the plate. Still, they did just enough on the heels of solid performances by Keller and a bullpen that collectively produced three scoreless innings.
THEY SAID IT
“I think if you take away the last game in Milwaukee, we played really well on this road trip,” Shelton said. “We had the situation yesterday where we get walked off, the second day in Milwaukee I thought we played well.
“But overall, very proud to finish this road trip the way we did."
UP NEXT
Monday: OFF
Tuesday: Giants at Pirates, 6:40 p.m., PNC Park
TV, radio: SportsNet Pittsburgh, KDKA-FM (93.7).
Probable pitchers: LHP Martín Pérez (1-3, 4.86) for Pirates. ... RHP Logan Webb (4-4, 3.03) for Giants.
Key matchup: The Giants have MLB’s fifth-highest team ERA (4.55). The Pirates, meanwhile, are 24th in the league in runs scored (177) this season.
Hidden stat: The Pirates have played in a total of 12 games this season decided in the last at-bat. They have gone 6-6 in those games.
Wednesday: RHP Jared Jones (3-4, 2.89) for Pirates; TBD for Giants
Andrew Destin: adestin@post-gazette.com and @AndrewDestin1 on X
First Published: May 19, 2024, 9:12 p.m.
Updated: May 20, 2024, 12:40 p.m.
