Going into the ninth inning Thursday, Derek Shelton told Kevin Newman to be ready.
The Twins were going to left-hander Taylor Rogers, and him vs. Newman was the matchup Shelton had been waiting for.
And with where the Pirates were in the batting order, there was a good chance Newman would be called on to pinch-hit if there were a couple runners on base.
Getting ready wasn't a problem for him. Since the league's new health and safety protocols limit the number of people who can stay in the dugout, Newman had been taking swings in the batting cage and staying loose.
Those swings paid off, bouncing a game-winner past the Twins' drawn-in middle infield to win it, 6-5, Thursday, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
"[Just] a huge bit of relief for myself and the team to be able to come through when when we really need one," Newman said. "It's a great feeling to come back. Hopefully, this is the start of something a little different than what we've had lately."
Newman is no stranger to walk-offs, delivering the game-winning hit four times as a rookie last year. But to do it as a pinch-hitter?
"It shows a little fortitude there," Shelton said. "Step in, pinch-hit. I think Taylor executed two pretty fastballs on the inner-half to him. To be able to drive the ball back through the middle and get the big hit, yeah, it speaks to the fact that he was in the game the whole time. He was aware of what was going on. He was ready to hit. It’s nice."
The Pirates came into Thursday leading baseball in ninth inning runs scored, but that late life had not translated to wins in close contests. They had fallen short in their first five one-run games, three of which came during their seven-game skid.
"I think we’ve talked a lot of times about being close at the end," Shelton said. "These guys don’t quit. I think we saw it right there."
The late-inning heroics actually start the inning prior, when Jarrod Dyson came back from being down 0-2 to draw a walk. He then stole second and third and scored on a Phillip Evans ground out to bring the Pirates back to within one run.
Had it not been for that run, or the combined three scoreless inning Chris Stratton and Sam Howard provided in relief, the Twins would not have been playing their infield in during Newman's at-bat, potentially taking the game-winning hit away.
"It definitely sparked us," Newman said about Dyson. "It just puts us that much closer and within reach."
Newman's approach at the plate didn't change knowing the infield was playing closer. He was just trying to get the barrel to the ball, like always.
"That’s what I love about him. He doesn’t try to do too much ever – like, ever," Gregory Polanco said. "He just tries to put a good swing on the ball and drive it to the middle."
While Newman's approach is the same as last year, the results have not been early. Like many hitters in the Pirates' lineup, Newman has started slow, entering Thursday batting .167/.211/.250 with one home run over his first 39 plate appearances.
He's hoping Thursday is the start of a turnaround.
"It's definitely not the start that you want," Newman said. "It's weird because I go up there and I feel confident, I feel good. For the most part, I’ve hit the ball hard, but it’s not there with the results. You’re showing up every day, working hard and continuing to progress, just knowing that’s sometimes just how it goes in baseball.
"It's not only me. We've had some struggles early on and, hopefully, we can start turning around."
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