PITTSBURGH — With two outs and runners on the corners, right-hander Jared Hughes was called upon from the Pirates bullpen to make his Major League debut and get out of the inning for lefty Brian Burres.
“I was nervous running in but once I got on the mound, it all went away and I was just really excited, really amped up,” Hughes said.
All he needed was one pitch, a 92 MPH heater, for a grounder back to the mound to end the 4th inning on Wednesday night’s 5-4 win.
“If I was going fast back to the dugout, that was just pure adrenaline. I don’t remember it,” He said.
Hughes came back out to pitch the 5th inning, where he allowed just one hit, a two out single into center field to the Astros’ Matt Downs.
“I thought it was a big night for Hughes,” Manager Clint Hurdle said. “To come in, the first two hitters was two pitches, two outs. For him to go 1 1/3 [it] got us to a nice place.”
The 26-year-old allowed no runs on one hit over 1.1 innings in his Major League debut with three groundouts, proving just how effective his sinker is.
“That’s my thing,” Hughes said.” I just try to get groundballs and trust my fielders. They did a good job on defense today.”
Hughes posted a 3.28 ERA in 48 appearances combined with Double-A and Triple-A this season before getting the big league call up on Tuesday.
“I was really excited,” Hughes said. “It was a successful outing and a good win. That’s the most important thing. I’m so glad we won today.”
“It was great to see Hughes to be able to get his opportunity,” Center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who went deep two times in the win, said. “I could tell from when he running in from the bullpen that he was ready to go. That’s something you love to see.”
- VIDEO — Jared Hughes
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports
Discussion about this post