2 weeks Ago By Justin Guerriero
Only Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington knows exactly what he was hoping to get out of left-hander Andrew Heaney when bringing the 33-year-old aboard this past February on a one-year deal. For those inclined to take a guess at what Cherington saw in Heaney, a stable veteran presence within the rotation would suffice as a reasonable answer. But how about a staff ace? Because that’s the picture painted by Heaney’s numbers so far through his first handful of outings.
Facing his former club, the Los Angeles Angels (for whom he went 30-33 with 4.51 ERA over parts of seven seasons from 2015-2021) late Wednesday night on the road, Heaney started for the Pirates at Angel Stadium in Anaheim searching for his fourth straight quality start. Delivering six nearly flawless innings, Heaney allowed zero runs and just one hit, striking out nine with no walks while leading the Pirates to a 3-0 win.
Heaney (2-1) picked up the victory and lowered his ERA to 1.72 with the quality start. The Pirates (10-15) will try for a sweep over the Angels Thursday evening.
Heaney sure looked like an ace to begin vs. Los Angeles, striking out the first six batters he faced, becoming the first Pirates lefty to do so since Francisco Liriano on June 1, 2013, per Elias Sports Bureau. The Pirates’ offense, fresh off a season-best 18 hits in Tuesday’s series-opening win over Los Angeles, responded to Heaney’s early dominance by handing him a 1-0 lead in the third.
After Isiah Kiner-Falefa led off with a single, Oneil Cruz moved him to third with a base hit before Bryan Reynolds brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Meanwhile, Heaney continued cruising through four innings, upping his strikeout total to eight while allowing zero baserunners. In the top of the fifth, Cruz left the yard for his sixth homer of the year, crushing a 463-foot solo shot 116.
6 mph off the bat to put the Pirates up 2-0. Cruz’s moonshot off Jack Kochanowicz was the fourth-longest in MLB this season, per Statcast. Kochanowicz (1-3, 5.
47 ERA) allowed two earned runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out three with a walk while taking the loss. With one out in the fifth, Travis d’Arnaud hit a double into the left field corner, becoming Los Angeles’ first baserunner of the evening. Heaney then faced a jam when Nolan Schanuel got aboard due to an error at shortstop by Kiner-Falefa, but Luis Rengifo lined out and Kyren Paris struck out to end the inning.
Taking over in the seventh after Heaney departed was David Bednar, who had another effective outing, his third after being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis April 19. Bednar began by striking out Mike Trout swinging with a heater, got Taylor Ward to pop out and then punched out d’Arnaud to end the inning. In the eighth, Caleb Ferguson pitched for the Pirates, retiring Los Angeles in order.
Coming to the plate with no outs in the ninth, Tommy Pham was the only Pirate without a hit Wednesday. But he joined the party with an RBI single, scoring Adam Frazier, who walked and stole second, giving the Pirates a 3-0 lead. With 11 hits Wednesday, for the first time this season the Pirates now have managed double-digits in three consecutive games.
Dennis Santana came on in the ninth and despite allowing a double to Jorge Soler, recovered to preserve the shutout and earn his third save of the season..
