There’s something about a comeback victory that makes a win so much sweeter. After the Pirates lost control of an early lead, Ke’Bryan Hayes pulled Pittsburgh out of a deficit with a bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh, helping the Pirates to a 6-3 win over the Tigers.
Hayes, who started in his second career game in the leadoff spot, finished 3-for-4 on Monday at PNC Park as the Pirates snapped their six-game losing streak. Hayes’ trio of singles were a positive sign that his bruised right hand, which forced him to sit out five games during the team’s most recent road trip, was certainly a thing of the past.\n\n\"The thought was get him \\[a few\\] at-bats, try to get him going a little bit,” manager Derek Shelton said of moving Hayes into the leadoff spot. “I asked him about it one day. I said, 'Hey, ever hit leadoff?' He said, 'Yeah, actually,' and I said, ‘All right, you're gonna do it.’ Nothing scientific behind it, just thought it'd be a good idea.”
The good idea has paid off already as Hayes has collected four hits since his return to the lineup. Though it’s his first go-round in the leadoff spot at the Major League level, Hayes sported a .294 batting average in 17 at-bats as a leadoff hitter in the Minor Leagues.\n\n“I did it a few times in 2019 in Triple-A,” Hayes said. “Other than just being the first one to hit for the team at the beginning of the game, once the game gets going, it's just like hitting second \\[or\\] third.\"\n\nThe Bucs continued to pile on runs during the four-run seventh as
\"It is important if there are guys on base, and that's what I told him. I said, ‘It's OK to hit singles if you've got a couple guys on,’” Shelton said. “But he's continued to have good at-bats for us. He did a nice job today on the double-play ball, but he's played well since he's been here.\"\n\n
The long ball allowed right-hander
While the Bucs led, 2-0, in the top of the third with two outs, Jeimer Candelario connected on a fastball over the middle of the plate and smacked it to no-man’s land in shallow left-center field. It had a 51 percent hit probability, and left fielder