Michael Harris II gets last laugh as Braves outduel Pirates in battle of top rookies

Roansy Contreras made the deepest start of his major league career, going seven innings for the first time against the star-studded lineup of the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

Oneil Cruz simply went deep, crushing a solo home run with a 41-degree launch angle and at an exit velocity of 108.7 mph to snap out of a funk at the plate.

On a night the Pittsburgh Pirates got impressive performances from a pair of rookies, the Atlanta Braves got the most important swing from their 21-year-old rising star.

A two-run home run by rookie center fielder Michael Harris II in the fifth inning lifted the Braves to a 2-1 win Monday night before 11,231 at PNC Park. The start of the game was delayed 62 minutes by a rainstorm.

The 22-year-old Contreras allowed four hits and three walks while striking out five in seven innings, becoming the first Pirates rookie pitcher to go seven innings since Nick Kingham’s major league debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 29, 2018.

“It was really good,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It was really effective. He was extremely efficient, commanded the zone … went right after guys.”

Contreras got off to a rocky start when Braves leadoff batter Ronald Acuna Jr. crushed the second pitch he saw for a 365-foot double to left. At an exit velocity of 110.6 mph, it was the hardest hit ball of the game. Acuna reached third on a passed ball, but Contreras retired the next three batters to escape unscathed.

Contreras allowed two walks and had runners on first and second in the second inning when he got Robbie Grossman to pop out to third, the first of seven consecutive outs.

After Vaughn Grissom singled to start the fifth, Harris smashed an 0-1 curveball 391 feet to left field for his 13th homer and a 2-0 Braves lead. It was the 10th homer allowed in 14 appearances by Contreras.

“The pitch to Harris was a curveball that stayed in the middle of the plate, and you got to take a pretty good swing to get the ball out left-handed that way,” Shelton said. “But, overall, I thought Ro threw the ball really well against an elite lineup.”

Braves starter Jake Odorizzi had runners on first and third in the first inning but got Ben Gamel to ground into a double play. Following a Rodolfo Castro single in the second, Odorizzi retired nine consecutive Pirates before Cruz blasted a 1-1 cutter for a 366-foot moonshot to cut it to 2-1 in the fifth inning.

“The big thing is when you’re working as hard as he is and grinding like he is and you get rewarded by taking a good swing, that’s really important,” Shelton said. “When he hits the ball and gets the ball in the air, it’s got a good chance of doing damage or going out of the ballpark.”

The solo home run was Cruz’s 10th of the season and the 42nd by a Pirates rookie, breaking the franchise record set in 2004. Cruz also joined fellow rookies Jack Suwinski (14) and Diego Castillo (10) in reaching the double-digit homer mark, marking the first time in franchise history that three Pirates rookies hit 10 or more homers in the same season. Cruz was 5 for 39 in the 16 days since his last homer.

“I just simply go out there and make sure I get a good pitch to put a hard swing on it,” Cruz said. “If the results come out great, awesome, but I try not to overthink stuff and try to read into things after my home runs.”

Contreras said Cruz’s home run got the Pirates pumped for a comeback. But they couldn’t generate much offense against Odorizzi, who allowed four hits without a walk while striking out seven. The Braves bullpen pitched three scoreless innings, with Kenley Jansen retiring the side in order for his 29th save.

“Most definitely when we saw Oneil’s home run, especially for me, it was exciting,” Contreras said. “Everybody in the dugout felt it. Everyone felt excited. Everyone got pumped up. And I’m going to vouch for my teammates. I know every one of them goes out there and gives it everything that they have, but unfortunately this game’s hard. Not always do we get the results that we want, but we’ve just got to keep going out there and battling it out.”

Shelton was most impressed with how Contreras was able to balance his four-seam fastball with an effective slider against the Braves lineup.

“I think that’s what’s even more impressive: He had the weapons working,” Shelton said. “That’s not an easy lineup to navigate, and he did a good job for seven innings and was able to finish strong. That’s extremely encouraging. … If he goes seven innings and two runs a lot of the time, we’re gonna be in a really good spot to win games.”