Kang's solo homer in 8th lifts Pirates to victory, snaps 8-game losing streak
One reason the Pirates have so little margin for error this September? They have had so little power, so little instant offense and a lessened ability to take advantage of pitchers' mistakes.
They have not had enough swings like that from Jung Ho Kang in the eighth inning Wednesday night at PNC Park.
With the score tied and the Pirates' season on the brink, Kang fouled off a two-strike changeup and then smashed a 99 mph fastball from Alex Reyes into the left-center bullpen.
The leadoff homer proved to be the game-winner in the Pirates' 4-3 victory. The home run was Kang's third in two starts after returning from the disabled list.
“Jung Ho has the ability to do some very special things,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We've seen it before.”
After blowing his third save Tuesday since taking over closer duties, Tony Watson came back out for the ninth and converted the save opportunity to snap the Pirates' eight-game losing streak — the club's longest since a 10-game skid in 2011.
Watson's save and Kang's homer also secured a win for Trevor Williams in his major league debut and helped the Pirates avoid being swept in a third straight series.
The Pirates (68-69) trail the Cardinals (73-65) by 4½ games in the NL wild-card standings.
The Pirates do not have power like that of the Cardinals, whose streak of 25 straight games with a home run was snapped Wednesday. It tied an NL record and was two games shy of the MLB record.
The Pirates entered the day ranked 26th in the majors in home runs. The Pirates ranked sixth in baseball in home runs as recently as 2014.
But the silver lining in September has been Kang's return from the DL, and the return of his power to the lineup.
His power has remained largely intact this season. Kang continues to prove he's among the best fastball hitters in the game.
Kang is slugging .522 this season with 17 homers. But injuries and inconsistency have limited his playing time to 80 games.
“Fresh legs as much as anything,” Hurdle said. “He's such a utilizer of his lower half when he hits. … The base is strong.”
Said Kang through an interpreter: “My legs are fresh.”
The Pirates need power to take advantage of rare mistakes from talented pitchers such as Reyes, who was ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in Baseball America's midseason top-100 rankings.
After a one-out double by Gregory Polanco in the fifth, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny took the ball from starter Mike Leake, who allowed three runs and nine hits in 4 1⁄3 innings.
Reyes stranded Polanco to end the fifth and then pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh. He overpowered Jordy Mercer with a 100 mph fastball for a strikeout in the sixth and got Andrew McCutchen to swing through a 99 mph fastball in the seventh.
McCutchen has 129 strikeouts in 128 games this season. He is approaching his career high (133) set last season.
Reyes ended the Pirates' seventh by getting Polanco to swing and miss at a 91 mph slider. Reyes struck out six and allowed one run in 3 2⁄3 innings.
In the sixth, Hurdle swapped one rookie — Jameson Taillon — with another: Williams.
Williams was immediately hurt by his defense. The first batter Williams faced in his major league career, Yadier Molina, began the sixth by hitting a fly ball to right.
Adam Frazier dropped the ball for a two-base error.
“Baseball is weird,” Williams said.
One batter later, Randal Grichuk singled through a drawn-in infield to tie the score 3-3 in the sixth.
Williams then fanned Jhonny Peralta for his first career strikeout, and Grichuk was caught stealing on the play to end the sixth. The ball from his strikeout was almost tossed into the stands before players in the Pirates dugout noted its souvenir status.
“I'm glad we got it back,” Williams said.
Williams, who touched 94 mph, used his herky-jerky delivery to allow one unearned run in three innings .
“You dream about it your whole life,” said Williams of his debut, which he was able to share with his family. He hugged his father afterward and held his 1-year-old son.
Taillon limited the Cardinals to two runs in five innings, but he was not as efficient as he typically has been in his rookie season.
Taillon has gone at least six innings in nine of his past 11 outings. He needed 48 pitches to get through two innings.
With his outing Wednesday, Taillon has pitched 149 2⁄3 innings between Triple-A and the majors, which exceeded his career-high of 149 1⁄3 innings pitched across three levels in 2013.
“The theme of the night was bearing down and making pitches when I needed to,” Taillon said.
Travis Sawchik is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at tsawchik@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Sawchik_Trib.
