About an hour ago
The first baseman of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Phillip Evans, chased the right-handed flyball at full speed, and looked shortly ahead in a full-speed collision with right-hander Gregory Polanco on full field in the sixth inning.
A hush came over PNC Park when Evans fell to the ground as the automated crowd noise in the empty ballpark was turned off as Pirates players turned to the dugout for help. Team coaches roamed the field to perform at Evans, who proved to be consciously proven.
The collision threw a pall over Saturday afternoon’s game between the Pirates and Detroit Tigers, who hit four home points in the first inning and fought twice for the order en route to an 11-5 victory.
“It’s extremely scary,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who said Evans was awake by the time he reached him. ‘If you look at the impact of that big, that hard, then both guys go full throttle. Close to the gate. It’s a terrible situation. I thought our medical guys did a good job, thought the paramedics did a nice job. You have to be too careful in that situation. Moments like that are scary. ”
The moment was not new to the Pirates. It was the second time in so many years that they collided with an attacker and outfielder while chasing a flyball in a game. On April 20, 2019, shortstop Erik Gonzalez broke his collarbone when he ran full speed in center field player Starling Marte, who had a crazy abdominal wall and quadriceps, against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park.
This saw Evans in a Miguel Cabrera fly ball in foul ground along the right field line as he ran at full speed the arm of the oncoming Polanco, absorbing a hit on the head that caused Evans to splash.
Polanco was shocked, kneeling and lying against the railing, while manager Derek Shelton, second baseman Adam Frazier, shortstop Kevin Newman and outfielders Jarrod Dyson and Bryan Reynolds stood nearby when Evans was stabilized with a collar, on a stretcher placed and cleared the field. Polanco remained in the match.
“That’s not something you ever want to be a part of or be there for or see,” said Newman, who added that Evans felt in his extremities. ‘It was absolutely scary. I’ve never seen a teammate lie on the ground for so long, going through all those tests and all that stuff, going through the stretcher. Definitely a cold moment. Hopefully the news we get back is clear. ”
Evans had been a pleasant surprise for the Pirates, signing a versatile infielder as a non-roster host for spring training after spending last season in the minors with the Chicago Cubs. Evans hit .378 / .452 / .514 and hit his first major league homer in the fifth inning of Friday’s 17-13 loss to the Tigers.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said earlier Saturday that the team was ‘clearly focused’ on Evans because of the opportunity to play cornerbacks in the infield and on the field, especially on the third base.
‘We thought he was at a point in his career where he started making some adjustments. There was enough defensive value with the versatility, and in principle it looked like he was making some offensive adjustments, and gave us some more power, “said Cherington.” So we thought maybe he was at the point in his career where “It’s not a big deal. It’s not a big enough sample to tell, but we’re really encouraged by what he does. He’s a great teammate. He can do a lot of things to help the team.”
Evans’ injury could pave the way for more playing time for Gonzalez, who had four hits and six RBIs on Friday night while playing on shortstop, but started on Saturday at third base.
The game got off to an unfortunate start when four of the first five Tigers hits – Niko Goodrum, Miguel Cabrera, CJ Cron and Jeimer Candelario – Pirates left Derek Holland, with Detroit in the first round for a 5-0 lead moisture.
“We had the right game plan,” Holland said. “Those guys just came out pretty aggressive and made us pay for it.”
The Tigers made it 6-0 in the second when Travis Demeritte finished in Jonathan Schoop. By then, Holland had thrown 63 pitches, but he remained in the game to reduce the burden of a bullpen that used six pitchers in Friday’s 17-13 loss.
The Pirates managed to score two runs in the third and three in the fourth off former Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova (1-0), cutting it to 6-5. But after throwing 102 pitches in five innings, Holland came back for the sixth for the sixth and gave up a homer to JaCoby Jones and back-to-back doubles to Goodrum and Schoop before being pulled over. Holland (0-1) allowed nine runs on 13 hits, with one walk and six strikeouts while throwing 113 pitches.
‘I also told myself, anyway, with what happened to the bull, you have to go as far as you can,’ Holland said. ‘I do not care what the pitch was. I also told him: Extend it. It does not matter to me if it is 100 pitch. Give me 150, I do not give (crap). I have to get out there and not stop the bull from getting a little bit up because we killed them a little bit. ”
Right-hander Nick Mears, added to the roster of 28 men earlier Saturday, made his premier class debut. Cabrera hit the foul ball that Evans chased in the collision, and then scored Schoop on a sacrificial flight to the right. Mears ran Grayson Greiner with the bases loaded to make it 10-5, and Cron hit a run-scoring double in the seventh from Sam Howard for an 11-5 lead.
The bullpen was so drawn that Shelton was forced to use backup catcher John Ryan Murphy to hit the ninth. Murphy put the Tigers in order, at eight counts. The Pirates (3-12) complete their three-game series against the Tigers at 1:35 a.m. Sunday, with left-hander Steven Brault replacing Joe Musgrove (ankle type) as the starting pitcher. The Pirates have lost nine of their past 10 games.
“It’s hard, but we have to wash it down,” said Newman, who was 4 for 5 with two RBIs. ‘Part of being a professional is just showing up to work the same thing every day, no matter what happened the day before, the week before or whatever. But you know, we have to keep watching and fighting. Our clubhouse is close by, and we are confident. We think we can get our act together fairly quickly. ”
Kevin Gorman is a staff writer for Tribune Review. You can contact Kevin via email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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