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PITTSBURGH – Pirates third baseman Josh Harrison doesn’t see numbers and he doesn’t relate to results.
Entering Thursday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, Harrison was batting just .196 in the first 15 games of the season. In the series against Chicago, he was just 1 for 13.
To the 27-year old, that isn’t a slump. Even if he was hitless in his last 30 at-bats, he still wouldn’t see it as a total negative.
“I don’t get tied to results,” Harrison said after the Pirates’ come-from-behind 5-4 win on Thursday. “I don’t care what a slump is, I’ve hit the ball hard. I’m going to stay with my approach, results will come and I don’t care if I’m 0 for 10. I was 0 for 10 and I felt good.”
Harrison’s last hit was a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning off Cubs pitcher Travis Wood on Tuesday, a 9-8 Chicago win. Harrison led off the Pirates home opener with a solo home run back on April 13.
In Thursday’s win, where Pittsburgh trailed 4-1 after five innings, Harrison had two doubles. His first in the bottom of the sixth inning, ignited the comeback that would tie the game in that frame.
“My first (double) was to start the inning with no outs and I was excited being in scoring position,” Harrison said. “I was pumped up.”
Two batters later, he scored on Gregory Polanco’s double.
Polanco had a big game, too, with three hits for his sixth multi-hit game of the season. In his first 30 at-bats of the season, Polanco had just seven hits. Now, he leads the team in batting average (.300), on-base percentage (.323) and total hits (18). Polanco is 7 for 17 in the last six games.
“It’s a testament to what that guy has done all year,” Harrison said of Polanco, whose locker is right next to his. “He doesn’t try to do too much and takes what is given to him. He used the hole that was there and it ended up being a big knock for us.”
So was Harrison’s second double.
In the bottom of the seventh, Harrison ripped another one to the left-centerfield gap.
“It was a tie ballgame (4-4) when I got that hit, I knew I’d be in scoring position again,” he said. “You don’t want to put more emphasis on one hit over another, but in the late innings, any chance you have to get more runs across is crucial.”
He came across on a Polanco single for the game-winning run.
“Just chip away, put together good at-bats and try to chip away at the lead,” Harrison said. “We had guys on and got some key hits and that’s what happens when you keep fighting.”
Thursday was Harrison’s 15th start at third base this season. Polanco made just his second career start in centerfield, while reserves Sean Rodriguez (left field) and Andrew Lambo (right field) made their first starts in those respective positions.
Rodriguez nearly caught Jonathan Herrera’s second inning triple that was drilled to the wall in deep left field that scored the game’s first two runs.
Adjusting to the spot was a challenge for Rodriguez, an offseason acquisition.
“I wish I would have got to that ball,” he said. “I knew that part of the track was a little deeper. Running out there, you still don’t necessarily get a feel for where the wall is at.
“As soon as he hit it, I didn’t think it was going to get that far. He definitely mashed it, though. I stayed aware and gave it everything I had. If I had a glove that was an inch-and-a-half longer, I would have had it.”
Rodriguez made up for the minor miscue in the bottom half of the inning with a solo home run, his first for the Pirates. He blasted it 450-feet to the Pittsburgh bullpen in straight-away centerfield.
“He threw a pitch right over the plate and I extended on it,” Rodriguez said. “You really don’t feel it off the bat, so it’s hard to say what the feeling is. It’s smooth and comfortable and that’s how you want to hit a ball, whether it’s in the air or on the ground.”
Lambo was 1 for 3 with a walk in his second start of the season. He was robbed of extra bases in the first inning when Chris Denorfia made a diving grab on the left field warning track. In his next at-bat, he ripped a double to the same vicinity.
“What he’s learning is with the quality of pitching up here,” said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s going to have to make an adjustment to it.”
Lambo was hitless in his first 13 at-bats to start the season. That wasn’t a slump, if he has Harrison’s attitude. Like Harrison, Lambo has hit the ball hard in his plate appearances. On Opening Day in Cincinnati, he ended a 14-pitch at-bat with a deep fly out to center field.
“I know I’ve been having great at-bats,” Lambo said, “just not getting results.”
The results will come. Sometimes it just starts with a great feeling.