PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates may be out of contention this season, but there are players that are looking to finish the season strong and leave a great impression heading into next years spring training. Rookie infielder Josh Harrison sure left a great one in the Pirates 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.
Harrison finished the night just a homer short of the cycle, going 4-for-5 at the plate.
“Not only for myself, but just in general,” Harrison said on making an impression. “You can look at the whole season and most people are only going to remember what you did in September, your last impression. To win a game like tonight, we definitely had fun out there.”
Harrison, who made his first start since September 17th, hit a single in the 1st inning, a leadoff triple to deep center field to start the 3rd inning, and doubled to center field with two outs in the 4th inning to come within a homer of the cycle. There has never been a cycle hit in the 11-year-history of PNC Park.
“I knew after my third at bat,” Harrison said. “A couple guys in the dugout wouldn’t let me not know that.”
In his fourth at-bat in the 6th, Harrison singled, not homered.
“I probably got a little big,” Harrison said. “It was a pretty good pitch to hit. It just got in on me a little bit. I don’t feel like I really got away from my approach, it was something to drive. I just missed it.”
“He’s got one career so I mean, we all thought it was a lay down,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “It’s a big night for him. He shows up ready all the time. I’ve spoken to him a couple different times, trying to get some different looks. He’s a guy that I know is coming back with us to spring training. He keeps working, keeps showing up, works hard, he stays prepared. Tonight that barrel is showing up so much more dramatically since he’s come back the second time…The extra-base hits are coming. He’s banging the ball. He plays with a lot of energy and he’s played much more consistent third base this time back as well.
Harrison, who isn’t the biggest guy on the team, standing at just 5’8”, is trying to prove that he belongs in the Major Leagues.
“I know whenever I’ve been told, I’m not a little guy, but whenever I’ve been told I cant do something, it motivates me. I wouldn’t get in an argument about it. ‘Okay. I’ll remember that. I’ll go find a way to get it done.’ The beauty of our game and the beauty of the sport, we measure things as men in so many different ways. With a radar gun, a clock, you look at power, you put a number on that, but you can never measure what a man has inside him. The desire in his heart and the courage he’s got to just go knock down barriers to just get things done. Those are a couple of the intangibles that Josh Harrison definitely has.”
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports
Discussion about this post