Pirates seek out one of the game's best fastballs and beat it in big rally

In only his sophomore season, Spencer Strider is quickly establishing himself as one of the game's best pitchers. After finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting one season ago, the Braves' right-hander got his first All-Star nod this year, will almost surely get Cy Young consideration and is flirting with a 300 strikeout season.

Liover Peguero welcomed the challenge Monday night at PNC Park.

"I’m not trying to be extra right now, but before the game, I screamed in here, I said, ‘We’re gonna get him out before the third,’ " Peguero said. "Everybody was like, ‘Why are you saying this?’ That’s what we did, then right when I got in the dugout, I said, ‘I told y’all we were gonna get him.’ "

Peguero doesn't talk pregame smack like that often (only about four times by his count, where he is a solid 3-for-4 after missing in the minors on a big-leaguer on a rehab assignment), but he backed up his words on the field. He picked up two hits in the third inning Monday to spark a long two-out rally that resulted in six runs and Strider being pulled in the bottom of the third, and the Pirates would then be able to stave off the Braves and the rain with that lead to hang on to win, 7-6.

Peguero got things started in the bottom of the third with a double before coming in to score on a couple of productive ground outs. From there, the Pirates kept moving the line, sending eight batters to the plate with two outs, the first time they had that much two-out magic since May 2, 2017. And fittingly, it would be Peguero who added the exclamation mark with a base hit to bring home the final run of the inning.

"We did a nice job with our approach off Strider," Derek Shelton said. "We came in, were aggressive, had good at-bats. And just continued to build off them, especially with two outs."

That approach, as Endy Rodríguez would point out, was quite simple, but effective.

"Staying with the fastball no matter what, no matter the count," Rodríguez said. "Just staying with the fastball."

Strider is essentially a two-pitch pitcher, rarely offering his changeup, so it does make it a bit easier to sit on one pitch. But as Rodríguez noted, "it’s still hard because he’s throwing 99, looks like 100." 

The data backed up that it was probably the right approach versus Strider, who averages 97.2 mph on his fastball. Against pitches 97 mph and up, the Pirates slashed a more than respectable .282/.344/.395 this season entering Monday, and that .739 OPS in those spots is the fourth-best in baseball.

Here's a look at how different Pirates have done against those fastest heaters this season: