PITTSBURGH — There’s nothing like a bench clearer to get the juices flowing, and the one at PNC Park after Oneil Cruz’s clunky slide into Sox catcher Seby Zavala got everyone who was involved amped up.
It got Cruz seriously hurt — he fractured his left ankle with his straight ahead slide in the sixth inning that upset Zavala and the rest of the Sox — but it did nothing to perk up a Sox lineup that before Sunday was piling up hits and runs in bunches. Against right-hander Johan Nievo and three relievers, they had just six singles, three of them by Gavin Sheets, and lost 1-0 to give the Pirates (6-3) the rubber game in their home-opening series.
“A tough one to come out of with the loss,” said starter Michael Kopech, who rebounded from a horrendous start against the Giants at the home opener in which he allowed five home runs by throwing six innings of one-run ball.
On a day the Sox (4-6) lost, having Kopech become the first starter to pitch six innings since Dylan Ceast on Opening Day and touching 97 mph in the sixth was something of a win. Seeing him gather himself after the bench clearer, which started with Zavala harsh words for Cruz, was a win, too.
Pirates designated hitter Carlos Santana, who was in the on-deck circle during the crash at home, approached Zavala as Cruz writhed in pain, and Kopech had to be restrained.
“The nerves are going and the adrenaline is pumping. It’s tough to get yourself back down to earth again,” said Kopech, who did that after a visit on the mound from manager Pedro Grifol after things calmed down with any ejections.
Protecting a one-run deficit, Kopech got a forceout and struck out Ji Man Choi, stranding two runners.
“Bottom line is we don’t want to see anyone get hurt,” Kopech said. “It was a late slide and we weren’t happy with the slide. Santana didn’t like what he was hearing [from Zavala]. For the most part we were trying to deescalate the situation.”
Santana had words for Zavala and “we had some choice words for him,” Kopech said. “He put his fist up like he was ready to fight. I’m not looking for a fight there, but everyone is looking for a fight until someone wants to fight him back. Things really escalated.”
“Somebody from their dugout put their hands on me,” Kopech said. “I’m not going to start things but I’m gonna finish them. I’m not happy with the situation. We’ll say it’s the end of it. From my perspective it’s on them.”
Zavala kicked Ke’Bryuan Hayes’ bat out of the way and left Cruz room to avoid contact.
“He was out by a good amount,” Zavala said. “Things happen and everybody’s competing. Tempers get high sometimes.”
“Santana didn’t like what I said, he said something I didn’t like. In a couple of days everybody will forget about it.”
Kopech, who retired 11 in one stretch before walking Cruz leading off the sixth, struck out five, walked three and allowed the Pirates’ only two hits. One was a triple near the wall that eluded right fielder Romy Gonzalez’s reach in the second by Canaan Smith-Njigba, who scored the only run on Taft High School graduate Jack Suwinski’s sacrifice fly.
“I tried to scale it, went barely over my glove,” Gonzalez said.
And the Sox barely threatened offensively and went 0-for-4 when they did with runners in scoring position. Yasmani Grandal pinch hit for Zavala in the seventh and took strike three on a pitch from Dauri Moreta that looked to be a shade above the strike zone.
Probably too close to take.
After that, the Sox went six up, six down against Colin Holderman and David Bednar.