Kevin Newman's hot bat leads Pirates past Twins as he tries to reclaim starting shortstop job

Kevin Newman has been vocal about trying to reclaim the starting job at shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he’s letting his bat do most of the talking.

Newman continued his hot streak at the plate this spring by going 3-for-4, scoring a run and driving in another as the Pirates beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2, Tuesday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

Through six games, Newman is hitting .643 (9-for-14) and three RBIs, attempting to create some separation in the shortstop battle.

“Anytime you can get some knocks to start the spring off, it’s kind of a good feeling to build some confidence as you’re getting ready to go into the season,” Newman said. “Have to be happy about that.”

After batting .224 in 44 games last season, when he lost his starting job at short to Erik Gonzalez and struggled at second base, Newman tweaked his batting stance by lowering his hands and pulling them closer to his his body this offseason.

“It was just a change I wanted to try coming off 2020,” Newman said. “It just wasn’t the year I wanted to have. I wanted to make a change. That’s something I’ve done previously. Throughout the minor leagues, I had my hands lower. I’d had some familiarity, so I figured I’d go back to it. Just messed around with it. It’s definitely felt comfortable so far.”

Batting leadoff, Newman singled to right field in the first inning and scored on Colin Moran’s double to left for a 1-0 lead. The Pirates increased the advantage to 2-0 on an RBI single by Newman to score Michael Perez in the second inning.

“It was a frustrating 2020 for a lot of players,” Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl said, “so for him to be able to find it, especially early in spring not to have thought in the back of your mind — like, when am I going to get going again? — to come out the way he has and to look like the old Kevin Newman that we know is really good to see.”

The Pirates added another run when Todd Frazier drew a walk, advanced to second on a Dustin Fowler single and scored on Brian Goodwin’s sacrifice fly to left field for a 3-0 lead. Tony Wolters led off the fourth with a single to right field, and scored on Cole Tucker’s RBI single for a 4-0 lead. Both Fowler and Wolters went 2-for-4.

Kuhl (2-1) threw three scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out four while throwing 34 of his 57 pitches for strikes against 13 batters. The right-hander pitched well, despite an infield collision with first baseman Colin Moran, who was tracking a Nelson Cruz pop fly between third base and home plate.

“In a pitcher’s world, between third base and home, you look up at how high it is and I have no shot at it because it’s that high. One of the fielders, popup priorities, you know, they’re going to have the best chance at it, so I just put my head down,” Kuhl said. “A couple seconds later … Moran just (was) making a beeline towards the ball and I just happened to be in his way. It’s just one of those freak plays that happened. But (Todd) Frazier caught it and I’m all right.”

The Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth off reliever James Marvel, who gave up two walks, an RBI double to Andrew Romine and an RBI single to Drew Maggi before getting the final out.

Newman started at shortstop and Cole Tucker at second base until the fourth inning, when they switched places. Between the two former first-round draft picks and veteran Erik Gonzalez, theirs is one of the most important position battles in spring training.

While Newman has distinguished himself early with his bat, he missed some time last week with a tight left hamstring. Gonzalez is batting .333 (7 for 21) in eight games. Tucker, who was out with a thumb contusion on his left hand, is hitting .167 (2 for 12) in four games.

“It’s fun. It’s a good competition,” Newman said. “As everybody knows, we’re a tight-knit group. Cole and Gonzo and myself, we’re all friends. We’re all rooting for each other. We’re all on the same team. At the end of the day, we’re going out there competing and we’ll see what happens.”

Mitch Keller is scheduled to start for the Pirates (8-7) against Tyler Glasnow and the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05 p.m. Tuesday at LECOM Park in Bradenton.