Wednesday Playback: Steven Brault Dazzles in First Complete Game
For a majority of the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation was subpar at best. By mid-September, the team only had one starting pitcher who had lasted seven innings in a game and the overall ERA was in the low fives. One of the pitchers struggling the most at that time was left-handed pitcher Steven Brault. He had allowed 12 earned runs over his last 14.2 innings of work. He started the year off by not allowing an earned run in any of his first five starts, but an outing on August 21st against the Chicago White Sox where he allowed four earned runs shot the left-handed's confidence down and started the drought of success.
Not only was Brault struggling, but the team was struggling as well entering that September 17th matchup. The Pirates had lost eight games in a row, including sweeps at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals, and were looking for some way to get back on track. The St. Louis Cardinals were in a battle for the playoffs and we're looking to gain some momentum against the Pirates. What ended up happening was one of the best pitching performances of the season as Brault recorded his first career complete game. We look back at this masterful pitching performance in today's Wednesday Playback.
Pitcher's Duel Early
As the game got underway at 7:05 pm, you knew pretty much from the get-go that this game was going to be a pitcher's duel. Brault was going against St. Louis's young starter Dakota Hudson who entered the start on the heels of four straight quality starts. Both pitchers were rolling along early with Brault retiring the side 1-2-3 to open the game, while Hudson walked one but still faced the minimum as the score sat 0-0 at the end of the first inning. Brault, who normally relies almost solely on his fastball, was mixing in his change-up, slider, and sinker effectively and even recorded his first strikeout of the game on a change-up.
Brault carried that first inning success into the second inning and needed just eight pitches for his second 1-2-3 inning. Of those eight pitches, only two were fastballs and he was changing speeds effectively in all three at-bats. His fastball was coming in in the low 90s while his change-up was averaging 85 mph and his curveball was at 80 mph giving him a wide range to work with. As a result, he was generating soft contact and getting batters out efficiently. The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the second with a one-out walk from Erik Gonzalez and a two-out double by Gregory Polanco, but no runs scored and it was still 0-0 at the end of the second.
Brault retired the first man he faced in the top of the third before the Cardinals put together their first, and really only, threat of the day. After striking out Harrison Bader to start the inning, Brault walked Rangel Ravelo and gave up a one-out single to Kolton Wong to put runners on first and second with one out. Tommy Edman would put the Redbirds up with an RBI single to center scoring Ravelo and giving the Cards a 1-0 lead. Brault was able to limit the damage rolling a double play to end the inning and bringing the Pirates to the plate. Adam Frazier would pick-up a one-out single, but a double play by Erik Gonzalez ended the inning and the Cardinals led the Pirates 1-0 after three innings of play.
The Pirates Storm Back
In an inning when the Pirates could have fallen apart, Brault bore down and came back strong against the heart of the Cardinals lineup. He struck out Paul Goldschmidt and got Tyler O'Neill to fly for the second out of the inning. Yadier Molina drew a two-out walk before Brad Miller grounded out to end the inning. The Pirates would reward Brault as they went to work against the Cardinals bullpen. Colin Moran and Josh Bell walked to start the inning before back-to-back strikeouts looked to end the threat. However, Gregory Polanco would be the Bucs on the board with a three-run home run to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead. Kevin Newman would single and Jacob Stallings drove him in with an RBI double and the Pirates led 4-1 after four innings.
With the lead now in his hands, Brault settled in and trusted his catcher throughout the night. He tossed his second 1-2-3 inning of the evening in the top of the fifth, needing eight pitches to record three groundouts and get back to the dugout. Brault was at 58 pitches after five-innings of work and needed to work on being efficient to stay deep into this game. The Pirates bats went right back to work in the bottom of the fifth with Ke'Bryan Hayes kicking things off with a double before a single by Moran and a sac fly from Bell would bring in the team's fifth run of the day. Erik Gonzalez hit into a double play to end the inning and the Pirates now led 5-1 after five innings of play.
Brault tallied up another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, but he had to work for it at the end. After retiring Edman and Paul DeJong pretty painlessly, Paul Goldschmidt stepped in and put up a fight. He forced Brault to throw nine pitches in the at-bat before eventually going down on strike for the final out. The at-bat took Brault to 77 pitches and, although he was pitching well, he was also nearing his career-high for innings pitched. Bryan Reynolds singled in the bottom of the sixth to lead off the inning, but the next three Pirates were retired and the score remained 5-1 after six innings.
Wrapping Up a Masterpiece
Prior to the September 17th start, Brault had never pitched more than seven innings in a game. However, despite the elevated pitch count, he cruised through the seventh and eighth innings retiring all six batters he faced. The Pirates offense was struggling against the Cardinals bullpen, so the lead remained 5-1 after eight innings of play. As the team entered the ninth, Manager Derek Shelton and his staff had a decision to make. With the bullpen struggling, do they stick with Brault even though he was at 95 pitches or go to the bullpen. They ultimately kept Brault in the game and it worked out.
First, he faced Tommy Edman and got him to ground out on a 1-1 pitch for the first out of the inning. Then, Paul DeJong came to the plate and gave Brault a run for his money. Brault fell behind 2-1 in the count as he surpassed the 100-pitch mark and had to battle his way back into the count. He threw three change-ups in a row and was able to strike out DeJong on a 3-2 pitch. With the Pirates, one out from victory, the Cardinal's most dangerous hitter Paul Goldschmidt was coming to the plate. Brault once again fell behind, missing the zone for the first two pitches, and Goldschmidt was right where he wanted to be. However, Brault went back to his tried and true throwing two fastballs to even the count at 2-2. He would end the game with a change-up on the outside corner that was foul tipped into the glove of Jacob Stallings to secure the win.
It was the first complete game in Steven Brault's career and gave him his first win of the 2020 season. For Brault, it was a confidence builder and showed that he has what it takes to pitch consistently at the Major League level. After the game, Brault talked about the outing saying "We decided before the game that I wasn't going to shake. I was just going to be a freaking throwing machine." That is exactly what Brault did and it brought home a victory for the Pirates. Check back every Wednesday during the off-season as we playback some of the Pirate's greatest moments from 2019 and beyond.
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