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Oh, baby: Pirates OF Ben Gamel homers off Orioles, hits the road for birth of his 1st child
BRADENTON, Fla. — Hey there, Delilah.
Before the birth of his first child — a daughter, Delilah Marie — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Ben Gamel provided the perfect present.
As Pirates bench coach Don Kelly shared a shoutout to Lauren Gamel during the AT&T SportsNet broadcast that her husband was leaving for Jacksonville immediately after his fourth-inning at bat, Ben Gamel smacked a Jorge Lopez sinker over the left-field fence for a home run.
“Always feels good to hit homers, but it’s a little more special today, for sure,” said Gamel, who plans to take Wednesday off. “DK was talking about it right when I hit it, too, so it’ll be pretty cool.”
DK: “Ben wanted me to give his wife Lauren a shoutout. He’s going to be leaving after this at-bat. They’re going to have their first child.”*two seconds later*
Gamel hits a home run ???? pic.twitter.com/OkNTnCmSu1
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 22, 2022
Gamel went 2 for 2 with a two runs scored, and his solo homer was the highlight for the home team in a 10-9 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in a Grapefruit League game Tuesday afternoon at LECOM Park.
“If you’re going to have a baby, you might as well hit a homer and swing the bat well,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’re excited for him and Lauren.”
Pirates manager Derek Shelton reacts to OF Ben Gamel hitting a homer off the Orioles Tuesday before leaving for the birth of his first child. pic.twitter.com/PHDZOuMtxO— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) March 22, 2022
The Pirates got off to a rocky start when left-hander Jose Quintana, who signed a $2 million free-agent deal, was battered for six runs on six hits and two walks in two innings.
The first four batters Quintana faced reached base as the Orioles batted through the order in a four-run first that saw Ryan McKenna and Anthony Santander hit doubles and Ramon Urias and Tyler Nevin scored them with RBI singles.
Quintana blamed the rough outing on being too quick in his mechanics, especially out of the stretch, that allowed batters to recognize his pitches. He made adjustments in the second, when Urias singled and Kyle Stowers hit a two-run homer to right field for a 6-0 lead.
“In the first inning, Santander hit me hard to center field was when I knew something was happening with my mechanics,” Quintana said. “That’s no good. When you see the results, it’s time to wake up and see what happened.”
Right-hander JT Brubaker fared far better, allowing one hit while striking out three of the seven batters he faced in two solid innings.
The Pirates rallied in the third inning, when Greg Allen walked and Gamel singled to set the table for Cole Tucker’s RBI single to right. Yoshi Tsutsugo also had an RBI single, and Ke’Bryan Hayes scored on an error by Stowers in right field on a pop up as the Pirates cut it to 6-4.
Gamel’s homer made it a one-run game, but the Orioles stretched their lead to 7-5 on Richie Martin’s RBI double in the sixth. Pirates outfielder Jack Suwinski drove in Allen with a triple in the bottom of the sixth before Baltimore’s Robert Neustrom homered in the seventh.
The Pirates tied the score at 8-8 in the seventh on back-to-back RBI singles by Diego Castillo and Cal Mitchell, but Matt Eckelman gave up a pair of runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Bannon and a run-scoring single by Neustrom.
The Pirates cut it to 10-9 when Carter Bins hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on Jared Oliva’s fly out to center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tucupita Marcano.
Right-hander Wil Crowe is scheduled to start against lefty Eduardo Rodriguez when the Pirates (3-2) visit the Detroit Tigers at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland.
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