Jared Jones set the tone last week in Detroit. Fresh off his worst outing as a big leaguer, the Pirates rookie stood outside the visitor’s clubhouse at Comerica Park hungry for redemption.
“I just have to go back to the drawing board,” Jones said. “I’m excited to get back out there again.”
Waiting for Jones in his next scheduled start were the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team he rooted for each summer while growing up in Whittier, Calif. For most pitchers, a showdown against David Roberts’ club would be an unwelcome task. But Jones couldn’t wait.
He arrived at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon knowing the challenge ahead. Opposing him on the mound was Tyler Glasnow, baseball’s strikeout leader. And waiting to greet him at the plate was a lineup that included three former MVPs, all still well in the prime of their careers.
The odds were certainly against the Pirates 22-year-old right-hander. But when faced eye-to-eye against the biggest test of his brief major league career, Jones didn’t blink, throwing six shutout innings to lead his team to a 1-0 victory.
"I mean, my summers growing up as a kid consisted of going to Dodger Stadium,” Jones said with a smile after his win. “Going out there, facing them for the first time, throwing up six zeros and giving us a chance to win, that means everything."
As he’s done throughout his entire time in the big leagues, Jones went right after Dodgers hitters, attacking hitters with his entire arsenal. He threw his three fastest pitches of the season in the top of the first inning, all registering just over 101 mph. The final of those three pitches was a fastball on the high, outside corner he used to strikeout Shohei Ohtani.
The Dodgers did what they could to put pressure on the Pirates’ rookie. Los Angeles had six men reach base in the first four innings. Five of those six worked their way into scoring position. But Jones refused to fold under pressure, dancing out of a jam each frame.
After throwing 78 pitches in his first four innings, Jones saved his best work for the end.
His outing was concluded with nine straight outs. Four of those final six batters he retired came on strikeouts. The names included in that group? Jason Heyward, Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman and, for a second time, Ohtani. In the end, he allowed just three hits and three walks, while striking out six batters.
“That's no easy lineup to go through and that's an understatement,” manager Derek Shelton said. “... He got efficient in the fifth and sixth because he had two innings where his pitch count got high and then he finished strong, which was really impressive to see."
Back in Pittsburgh for the first time since the Pirates infamously traded him to Tampa Bay in 2018, Glasnow did all he could to beat his former team.
He was, for the most part, brilliant, notching nine strikeouts in six innings of work. Glasnow surrendered a pair of walks and three hits. One of them, however, would determine the final outcome.
With one out and nobody on in the bottom of the third inning, the 30-year-old righty elected to challenge Jack Suwinski with a 3-2 fastball on the high, inside corner of the plate. In his first at-bat back from a brief trip to Triple-A Indianapolis, Suwinski got the pitch he hoped for, connecting on the heater to send it over the Clemente Wall for the game-winning run.
“It was just a pretty good heater,” Suwinski said. “Just trying to back the ball up a little bit because he throws a lot of off-speed with two strikes. Just looking for something up.”
Both teams turned the game over to the bullpen for the final three innings. While the Dodgers once again came close to plating a run, the Pirates reliever trio of Colin Holderman, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar held strong to secure the win.
ON THE MOUND
In addition to his fastball and slider working to full effect, Jones also deployed his changeup against the Dodgers in key situations. The most notable instance came in his final showdown against Ohtani, where he threw it on back-to-back pitches in an at-bat that ended in a strikeout.
"Yeah, he was out in front of the first one,” Jones said. “I thought he was sitting fastball, so I went right back to it."
After struggling to rely upon his off-speed pitches in prior outings, Shelton was more than pleased with Jones’ ability to use his entire repertoire against the Dodgers.
"I would say it's close,” Shelton said when asked if Tuesday was the best he had seen Jones’ pitch arsenal. “You're talking about that kind of lineup and having to navigate through, I would say that's as close as we've seen it."
AT THE PLATE
Suwinski and Henry Davis both showed the progress Pirates fans and front office members alike hoped to see in their return to the big leagues.
"It was very encouraging,” Shelton said of the two big swings.
The former’s big moment of course came in the bottom of the third, when he tagged Glasnow for a solo homer. With a full count against the game’s top strikeout pitcher, Suwinski sat fastball and was rewarded, sending a high and inside heater 375 feet to right field.
Davis, meanwhile, smacked the club’s second extra-base hit of the evening in the bottom of the seventh. Behind in the count 0-1, the Pirates backstop connected on a low slider over the middle of the plate, sending it down the left field line for a double.
THEY SAID IT
When asked about the way Jones responded from his poor outing last week against the Tigers, Shelton couldn’t help but to gush with pride.
"I think his first four or five starts, we all got enamored with all the swings and miss,” Shelton said. “The game's not that easy. The Tigers game, they attacked him a little bit. For him to bounce back after what you would say was his worst outing and then come back and do it against this team, I think that's extremely impressive and I think that shows you the kind of moxie this kid's got."
UP NEXT
Wednesday: Pirates vs. Dodgers, 6:40 p.m., PNC Park
TV, radio: SportsNet Pittsburgh, KDKA-FM (93.7 The Fan)
Probable pitchers: LHP James Paxton (5-0, 3.29) for Dodgers; RHP Paul Skenes (2-0, 2.45) for Pirates
Key matchup: A former Dodger, Yasmani Grandal has had notable success against old team, hitting .299 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 134 at-bats.
Hidden stat: Suwinski’s home run marked the 300th hit of his big league career.
Thursday: Pirates vs. Dodgers, 6:40 p.m., PNC Park
Probable pitchers: RHP Walker Buehler (1-3, 4.32) for Dodgers; LHP Bailey Falter (3-2, 3.22) for Pirates
Noah Hiles: nhiles@post-gazette.com and @_NoahHiles on X
First Published: June 5, 2024, 1:10 a.m.
Updated: June 5, 2024, 4:26 p.m.
