Jake Mangum left Saturday night sounding like a player who knows exactly what one blowout can and cannot do.
The Pirates had just beaten the Mets 9-0 at PNC Park, a game that gave them a little bit of everything they’ve been missing: offense, a real starter’s outing and, for one night, a crowd that felt fully in sync with the moment. Mangum was soaked, cold and emotional as he thanked Pirates fans for the atmosphere and talked about how he wants this club to finish the season.
Then, after a shower and a postgame celebration, he doubled down on the same point. The win mattered. It just couldn’t become a one-night exception.
“We had a really big crowd out there [Saturday],” Mangum said. “It would be very easy to roll over and say, ‘Those guys are done’ after the stretch we just went on, the timing of the stretch. But that’s not the case.
“I meant it when I said those cliche things to you back in spring. It’s every day.
You have to show up. It’s the same message right now.
We just won a game - great. We have to wake up and do it again [Sunday].”
That’s the tension hanging over the Pirates right now. At 58-61, they’ve shown what they can look like when everything clicks. They’ve also spent enough time stumbling - 14 losses in 21 games since the All-Star break, including nine of the last 11 - to know that one clean, convincing win doesn’t change the math by itself.
Mangum’s answer, and the message from inside the clubhouse, is to shrink the job. Handle one day.
Then the next one. Don’t let the stretch consume you.
“This stuff can be stressful,” Mangum said. “You never have time to unwind. If you let the grind of this season eat you alive, you’ll just start walking around stressed, and that’s not a good way to be.”
Saturday was the opposite of that. Mangum and Ronny Simon helped loosen everything up.
Mangum, who was hitting .318 over his previous 56 games before Saturday, had three hits, including two doubles, out of the leadoff spot. The top four hitters in the Pirates’ lineup produced seven of the nine runs.
Simon, moved up in the order after Endy Rodriguez was scratched with left hip discomfort, turned in another strong all-around night. He had two hits, stole a base, drove in two with a double and scored a run.
“It’s really special for us, bringing the energy,” Simon said. “I think that’s what this team needs right now.”
The Pirates got more than energy. They got the kind of pitching performance they’ve been chasing.
Bubba Chandler put together what was arguably his best start of the season, throwing six scoreless innings with no runs allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. Lake Bachar and Kirby Yates handled the rest, and the Mets never got a runner to second base.
“Stress-free outing from the staff,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “For the offense to continue to add on as we went was really big. Gave us a huge cushion.
“We’re starting to stack at-bats. We see what can happen when we do that.”
Chandler’s night keeps pointing in the right direction. He threw 85 pitches, 58 for strikes, and generated 11 whiffs while working aggressively in the zone.
His four-seamer and sinker showed up more than usual, with the slider serving as his main secondary pitch. The changeup, which has been his best offering at times this season, was used less.
It didn’t matter. The results were there.
Over his last five starts, Chandler has a 2.36 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 26 2/3 innings, giving Pittsburgh its best run of starting pitching during that stretch. Saturday was only the fifth quality start for the Pirates in their last 22 games, a 8-14 run since the break.
“Hopefully this jump starts us in the right direction for the next month and a half," Chandler said.
Behind the plate, Henry Davis also had his fingerprints on the game. He went 2 for 4 with two singles and handled Chandler well, then threw out Luis Robert Jr. trying to steal second in the second inning. After the Mets tested Rafael Flores Jr. on Friday, they were far less aggressive with Davis catching on Saturday.
Mangum’s first-inning double to right, a 369-foot shot, set the tone. He even acted as if he were lifting the cone at second base, later saying he was trying to bring some extra juice and remind everyone this is still a kids’ game.
The Pirates kept piling on from there. In the fourth, Mangum doubled in Davis from first and then scored on a wild pitch. Nick Gonzales followed by drilling a middle-middle fastball for a two-run double that turned the night into a rout.
The Pirates are still 4.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot, but they also have games left against the teams they need to pass - the Marlins, Padres and Cardinals. Mangum isn’t looking far ahead, though. Not with the season still demanding something from them every day.
“It’s not anyone’s fault that [everyone got tight],” Mangum said. “It’s just the nature of the beast.
We have to keep going. Good win.
But we have to go win a series [Sunday].”
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