Ke'Bryan Hayes bounces back from costly error to draw pivotal walk in Pirates' comeback win

Ke’Bryan Hayes is such an elite defender that the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman has made spectacular plays look routine, so his error on a routine grounder was something of a spectacle.

When Houston Astros star Jose Altuve hit a bases-loaded grounder to Hayes with one out in the fifth inning Monday night, a bad hop turned it from a would-be double-play ball into an error on the 2023 NL Gold Glove winner that allowed two runs to score.

“I felt like it was kind of a routine ball that took a weird hop on me,” Hayes said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “That’s going to happen. That’s not the first time, not the last time. … You’ve got to forget about it and get ready for the next pitch because the ball is going to keep coming back to you. For me, it sucked because two runs came in. I was pretty (angry). There still was more game to play, so I’ve just got to be ready for the next one.”

Just as Hayes made a terrific catch by reaching over the railing of the visiting dugout on a Jake Meyers pop-up to end the second inning, he would provide the Pirates with another gem in the sixth.

With one out and runners on first and third, Hayes robbed Meyers again when he fielded a bouncer and made the throw to second while falling backwards to turn a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton called them “two huge plays” by Hayes — “This guy’s one of the best defenders,” Shelton said, “if not the best defender at third base in baseball” — in the 5-3 comeback win over the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

It was the first time playing as a major leaguer in his hometown stadium, after growing up watching the Astros and making visits with his father, Charlie, a 14-year MLB veteran, to see former teammates who became managers when they were in town to play Houston.

Shelton was just as impressed with how Hayes handled his at-bats late in the game, working full counts to draw a pair of walks. Hayes, who has a 5.8% walk rate, ended a streak of 87 at-bats without a walk by drawing his first since June 29 at Atlanta with two outs in the seventh. He stole second base but was stranded.

Hayes started a ninth-inning rally when he had three foul balls in an eight-pitch at-bat against five-time All-Star closer Josh Hader to draw a leadoff walk. Hayes then advanced to second base on a balk and stole third before scoring the go-ahead run on Michael A. Taylor’s three-run homer.

Shelton is hoping Hayes, who has a .239/.293/.298 slash line, can build off his two-run single in the ninth of Sunday’s 6-5 extra-inning win over Arizona and the two walks against the Astros for a strong second half at the plate.

“That Hader at-bat, he had good swings off him,” Shelton said. “That’s really important as he gets going. Huge hit (Sunday) but good at-bats again today. That’s a really good sign for us.”