If last night was about an individual, tonight was about a team.
I’ll admit it: I thought the Pirates were done when Neil Walker’s long fly ball off of Trevor Rosental came up just short of the warning track in the bottom of the tenth. Asking for another huge hit from McCutchen seemed like a stretch, and Trevor Rosenthal’s been excellent this year, games against the Pirates notwithstanding. When McCutchen grounded out, I was sure it was done. I was telling myself that a split was OK, that the Pirates have made up 4 1/2 games in the last two weeks and that they have a whole second half to make up 4 1/2 more.
And then as soon as Starling Marte singled Mercer home, I snapped out of it. Kang? Cervelli? Kang has been the unsung hero this whole week, and Cervelli would obviously have a huge hit in him after what happened last night. Kang sharply singled, and then Cervelli sharply singled to tie the game. Up next: Travis Ishikawa, Cardinal killer.
As much fun as it would’ve been to see Ishikawa put the dagger in the heart of the Cardinals in black and gold instead of black and orange, I wanted it to be Polanco. Polanco’s the player that the front office and coaches have put a ton of faith in, Polanco’s the bat that could put the lineup over the top, Polanco’s the one we Pirate fans have been waiting for for over a year. It was Polanco, and of course one hit in one game in July doesn’t mean that Polanco’s going to turn his season around, but everything starts somewhere.
Look at the list of players that lined up one single after another to erase a two-run lead and then add a third one to beat one of baseball’s best closers: Mercer, Marte, Kang, Cervelli, Polanco. Without help from McCutchen or Walker, with Josh Harrison on the disabled list, with no chance of Pedro Alvarez stepping in to crush a game winning home run, everyone else in the Pirates lineup stood in the box, put their bats on the ball, and pulled off a win that was somehow even more improbable than last night’s win.
Remember that first weekend in May, when the Pirates went into St. Louis down by 3 1/2 games, played three good baseball games, and came out with a 6 1/2 game deficit after three extra inning walkoff losses? Remember wondering what it would’ve felt like to be on the other side of that? The Cardinals had three extra inning leads in the last two days, but they couldn’t hold any of them. The Pirates rallied in every way imaginable, with superstars and nobodies and home runs and singles. If the Cardinals had held on to those leads, they’d be 6 1/2 games up on the Pirates. Instead, the Pirates are beating down the door, just 2 1/2 behind the Cards, closer than they’ve been since April 19th. This is what it feels like to be on the other side of a weekend like the one the Pirates had in St. Louis in May. It feels better than I imagined.
Remember this, too, though: by definition, this cannot be an apotheosis. The season is not over. The Pirates are not in first place. Starting on May 22nd, the Pirates reeled off 32 wins in 44 games to pull within 4 1/2 of the Cards and give meaning to this weekend. This weekend, the Pirates took three of four from the Cardinals in incredible fashion, and the result is to give meaning to the second half. It was a great weekend, a fun weekend, a memorable weekend, but it can only be a special weekend if the Pirates make good on the promise of it in the second half.
It’s a little disappointing that a team that’s on a roll like the Pirates are have to take four days off for the All-Star Break now, but maybe it’s for the best. It’d be hard to follow this series immediately with games agains the Brewers. We’ve all got a few days now to savor these moments, some of the best moments in recent-or-not-recent Pirate history. But once the games show up on the calendar again, this weekend is over. There’s work left to be done.
Image: Justin K. Aller, Getty Images
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