| Advertisement |
DETROIT -- Jonathon Niese is trying to remake himself. Which might raise the question, Why? Niese, acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in an offseason deal with the New York Mets, checked Detroit on five hits over six innings Monday to help the Pirates take a 7-4 decision from the Tigers, who lost their second straight game to a softer-tossing southpaw.
Advertisement
Matt Joyce, getting a chance to start because Pittsburgh needed a designated hitter in an American League park, keyed two early rallies with a single plus a double.
Niese held Detroit to three hits through five innings and gave up a pair of runs in the sixth before turning the game over to a strong Pittsburgh bullpen. He walked one and struck out five with one of the four runs he allowed being unearned.
"It's another step forward," said Niese. "I battled through that last inning. Ray (pitching coach Searage) and I have been working in the bullpen. I'm trying to change my delivery, quiet some stuff down.
"I threw a bullpen in the rain the other day and some things didn't feel right. I'm trying to stay back more so I don't rush my arm through. We're simplifying some things, trying to quiet things down."
Niese (1-0) gave up solo home runs to J.D. Martinez, his first, in the fifth and to Nick Castellanos, also his first, in the second while following New York Yankees lefty CC Sabathia in calming down Detroit.
Sabathia, who no longer hits 90 mph, earned a win over the Tigers on Saturday. Niese only breached 90 mph on the Comerica Park radar gun a couple of times but emulated Sabathia in changing speeds and working all four strike zone quadrants.
"He had a better angle on his fastball," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He used his changeup extremely well. He was 17-for-24 in first-pitch strikes."
"Give the guy credit," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "He moved his fastball in and out, used his cutter inside. It was similar to what CC Sabathia did the other night."
Maybe that's a guidepost for other teams to follow when facing Detroit.
Niese allowed two runs in the sixth, one on a fielder's choice groundout and the other on an RBI single by Martinez.
Neftali Feliz pitched a scoreless seventh, Tony Watson the eighth and Mark Melancon picked up his third save in the ninth.
The Pirates chased Justin Verlander (0-1) with a one-out double and a single in the fifth as part of a 17-hit attack. Reliever Drew VerHagen gave up an RBI double to Gregory Polanco and an RBI single to Sean Rodriguez as Pittsburgh padded its lead to 7-1.
"We got some good looks against him," Hurdle said. "We had some good square-ups. We weren't out in front of his pitches."
"Sometimes you find it," Verlander said. "Sometimes it goes the other way. Historically, I'm somebody that takes a few starts to get rolling. My Aprils aren't great, but once it clicks, it goes.
"It felt like they hit everything. I don't recall getting many swings and misses at all."
Pittsburgh played precision baseball, using a successful hit-and-run to key its two-run second and a sacrifice bunt to score a run in the fourth.
"We executed extremely well," Hurdle said. "We were moving runners, we stayed within ourselves. It was fun to watch."
"They're a good team," Ausmus said. "It's not like we were playing a high school team. That's a good lineup."
Pittsburgh pushed its lead to 5-1 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by John Jaso.
Castellanos' home run with two outs in the second cut Pittsburgh's lead to 3-1, but the Pirates restored their lead to 4-1 in the third with a sacrifice fly by Francisco Cervelli. Joyce doubled leading off and moved up on a groundout.
Pittsburgh forced Verlander to throw 37 pitches in the second inning. He ended with 111 pitches, allowing 10 hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Jordy Mercer grounded a two-run single up the middle in the second. Jaso doubled to open the game, went to third on a fly to center and scored when Joyce punched a one-out single through the left side.
Detroit suffered a blow in the fifth when catcher James McCann twisted his right ankle while stepping on the right side of first base, trying to minimize a collision with first baseman Jaso on a groundout. He suffered an ankle sprain and the Tigers are hoping it won't put him on the disabled list.
"X-rays came back OK," Ausmus said. "We're waiting on an MRI. There's some concern that it could be an issue. I initially thought he hit his head. He told (trainer) Kevin Rand it was his ankle. There's a reasonable concern it could be a sprain of some sort."
NOTES: 1B John Jaso, Pittsburgh's leadoff hitter, doubled to left leading off the game and now has reached base safely in each of the first seven Pirates games. ... Rehabbing Tigers RHP Alex Wilson and OF Cameron Maybin each were moved from Class A Lakeland to Triple-A Toledo on Monday. Maybin was to play Tuesday and Wilson to pitch after that as both are expected to be ready for Detroit within a week. ... Detroit C James McCann was errorless through his first 122 games after Monday, the longest such streak by a rookie catcher in the majors since 1900. ... Pittsburgh closer RHP Mark Melancon recorded his 103rd save Monday and is one of four Pirates to have saved 100 or more games with the franchise.
