David Freese stressed the need of a culture change inside the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse during spring training, one that focused more on creating a greater sense of urgency and accountability when things go awry.
Given a rare start with his club facing the prospect of getting swept by Colorado, Freese backed up his words with his bat. The veteran third baseman worked a two-out walk in the fourth to start a rally and added a two-run double as the Pirates had little trouble with the Rockies in a 10-2 win on Wednesday.
Pirates manager gave regulars Corey Dickerson, Gregory Polanco and Colin Moran the day off. Their replacements — Freese, left fielder Sean Rodriguez and second baseman Max Moroff — drove in five of Pittsburgh’s 10 runs as the Pirates improved to 8-0 in day games.
“You have your everyday guys getting a little breather, you want to take pride in stepping up and make it seem like a seamless transition when your everyday guys get a break,” Freese said. “Me, Sean and Max got in there and today was a day we kind of showed up and kept it going.”
Josh Bell drove in three runs and Adam Frazier had three of Pittsburgh’s 13 hits as the NL Central leaders broke out after being limited to just two runs in their previous two games against the Rockies.
“It breeds confidence on the bench,” Bell said. “It breeds confidence with guys coming in in different situations.”
Chad Kuhl (2-1) surrendered Chris Iannetta’s solo home run in the third but otherwise kept Colorado’s struggling offense in check. He labored at times through the first five innings but finished with a flourish, retiring the Rockies in order in the sixth to cap his longest start of the season.
“I looked up and saw I had 87 pitches (after five),” Kuhl said. “All I focused on was make these (final pitches) count.”
Kyle Freeland (0-3) cruised through the first three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth. Freese worked a two-out walk off and Rodriguez followed with a shot that just cleared the wall in left field for his second home run this season. Max Moroff added an RBI double two batters later to put the Pirates up 3-1.
Freeland was pulled in favor of Scott Oberg after giving up singles to Frazier and Jordy Mercer starting the fifth. Oberg couldn’t get out of the jam, surrendering an RBI single to Bell. Freese followed with a double to the gap in left-center.
Freeland was charged with five runs, six hits and two walks in four-plus innings, needing 91 pitches to get 12 outs.
“I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters and I didn’t have a good feel for my fastball, especially the sinker,” Freeland said. “It just wasn’t there.”
OFFENSIVE WOES
Colorado went 5-2 on a swing through Washington and Pittsburgh, thanks in large part to its pitching. The offense has struggled while third baseman Nolan Arenado served a five-game suspension for his role in a brawl with San Diego earlier this month. Colorado entered last in the NL in batting (.215) and didn’t improve against Kuhl and two relievers.
The Rockies had just two extra base hits on Wednesday, or one more than newly acquired Pittsburgh reliever Enny Romero, who doubled in the eighth in his second big league at-bat.
CARGO EXITS
Rockies right fielder Carlos Gonzalez tweaked his right hamstring in the fourth while making a diving catch on a sinking liner by Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte. Gerardo Parra replaced Gonzalez in the fifth. Manager Bud Black called the move precautionary. Gonzalez said it was the first time in years he’s felt pain in his hamstring and isn’t certain if he’ll be available when the Rockies begin a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
UP NEXT
Rockies: Jon Gray (1-3, 6.23 ERA) will start for Colorado on Friday against Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (0-1, 3.71).
AROUND THE MAJORS
The Toronto Blue Jays continue to rip through their major league schedule, while the Kansas City Royals appear far removed from the ballclub that won the World Series 2 ½ years ago.
Curtis Granderson belted a grand slam and Teoscar Hernandez went 4-for-6 with a two-run shot and four RBIs as the Blue Jays crushed the Kansas City Royals, 15-5 to complete a three-game sweep. Yangervis Solarte also homered and Kevin Pillar added three hits and an RBI to help the Jays win for the 12th time in 15 games since an 0-2 start.
Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler went deep for the Royals, who are an American League-worst 3-13 following their eighth consecutive loss.
The lone team hotter than the Jays is the Red Sox after Rafael Devers launched his first career grand slam in a 9-0 laugher against the Angels. Mitch Moreland added a two-run shot and four RBIs as Boston improved to 15-2 to extend the best start in the club’s 118-year history. Rick Porcello is the year’s first four-game winner after scattering six hits in as many innings.
— Ryan LaMarre poked an RBI single in the bottom of the 16th to lift Minnesota past Cleveland, 2-1 at San Juan. Edwin Encarnacion and Miguel Sano traded solo homers before LaMarre came through following an error by second baseman Jason Kipnis.
— Gerrit Cole gave up an unearned run over seven innings and the Astros erupted for six runs in the seventh to beat the Mariners, 7-1. Marwin Gonzalez broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run single and George Springer added a two-run double in Houston’s highest-scoring inning of the year.
— Jake Faria earned his first win since last July 25 by holding the Rangers to one run over six innings of the Rays’ 4-2 victory against Texas. Cole Hamels gave up two hits through five scoreless innings before the Rays rallied to take a 3-1 in the sixth on Daniel Robertson’s RBI double, C.J Cron’s run-scoring single and Adeiny Hechavarria’s sacrifice fly.
— The Tigers pulled out a 6-5 win over the Orioles on Dixon Machado’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth. John Hicks tied it with a three-run blast in the bottom of the eighth, a half-inning after Manny Machado and Chris Davis delivered RBI singles in Baltimore’s three-run rally. Jeimer Candelario and Miguel Cabrera also went deep for Detroit.
— Matt Olson provided the walk-off, RBI single in the 14th inning to send the Athletics past the White Sox, 12-11. Olson went 4-for-6 with three RBIs, while Mark Canha and Jed Lowrie added homers in Oakland’s fourth straight win.
— The Mets avoided a three-game sweep as Yoenis Cespedes unloaded a grand slam to cap a nine-run eighth that highlighted New York’s 11-5 win over the Nationals. Washington took a 4-2 lead into the eighth inning before Todd Frazier hit a two-run single and Juan Lagares delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double.
— Brandon Belt’s two-run homer in the 10th inning snapped a 2-2 deadlock and led the Giants past the Diamondbacks, 4-3. Evan Longoria also slammed a two-run shot as San Francisco dropped the NL West leaders to 12-5.
— The Dodgers ripped the Padres, 13-4 as Corey Seager went 4-for-5 with three RBIs. Max Muncy cracked a two-run homer to give Los Angeles a 9-2 lead by the third inning.
— Red-hot Ryan Flaherty belted a three-run homer and had four RBIs in the Braves’ 7-3 win over the Phillies. Flaherty was 2-for-4 to raise his average to .365, just as Atlanta was pondering other options at third base by signing Jose Bautista to a minor league contract.
— The Reds are a major league-worst 3-15 following a 2-0 loss at Milwaukee. Eric Thames slammed his team-high seventh home run in the third inning to account for all of the scoring. Winning pitcher Zach Davies tossed three-hit ball over 6 1/3 innings and Christian Yelich returned from the disabled list and made a snazzy sliding catch on a fly ball that deflected off the glove of left fielder Hernan Perez.
— The Cardinals and Cubs were postponed due to wintry weather at Wrigley Field, forcing the two teams to play on Thursday.