SAN DIEGO — During the final inning of Sunday’s victory against the Milwaukee Brewers, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle shuffled his defense. The end result was Chris Stewart, who had pinch-hit in the bottom of the eighth inning, behind the plate and Francisco Cervelli at first base.
“It’s something we had talked about all through spring training,” Hurdle said. “We wanted to put it in play in spring training for a matchup, possibly, to get both bats in the lineup against a left-handed pitcher.”
The Pirates led 9-3 at that point, providing a low-leverage environment in which to experiment.