It wasn't until Felipe Vázquez stepped on the mound in the ninth inning that Edgar Santana realized he was only three outs away from his first major league win. Vázquez proceeded to close out a 3-2 victory over the White Sox Wednesday afternoon, and Santana, signed by the Pirates only four days before his 22nd birthday in 2013, quickly texted news of the milestone to his mother in the Dominican Republic.
Then, he climbed into a laundry cart inside the clubhouse at PNC Park, assumed the fetal position and was doused with shampoo, mustard, hot sauce, baby powder, orange juice and beer. The "celebration" came after the Pirates' fourth series sweep of the season, and it was the result of Clint Hurdle's first experiment with his reconstructed bullpen.
Santana helped the Pirates escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning, and Michael Feliz, the man who organized the melee of people dumping condiments on Santana's head, gave up a two-out single but completed a scoreless eighth inning in his first audition as the setup man.
"Fantastic, yeah," Hurdle said, grinning. "As you go in, the numbers Santana has against left-handed hitters is crazy. That’s hard to do for a right-hander, but he’s making pitches. Feliz, coming in for the first time, that’s why I wanted to give him another hitter. Not just one guy on base and boom. If something happens, I’ve got to wear it. But he needs the opportunity to finish the inning the first time we give it to him. … I liked how both of them were able to step up today."
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