Cole thwarts role, raps homer and double

PITTSBURGH — Gerrit Cole crushed the 0-1 fastball from D-backs left-hander Patrick Corbin, sending the ball crashing deep into Arizona’s bullpen some 409 feet away from the plate, according to Statcast™. He rounded first base, clapped his gloved hands and pumped his fist. What was he thinking?

“I was hoping we could get the runners over,” Cole said.

Cole did far more than advance a few runners in the Pirates’ 8-3 win over the D-backs at PNC Park on Thursday. The right-hander went 2-for-2 with a three-run homer and a double, giving himself some early run support before the Bucs bats broke out late to finish off a sweep and an 8-2 homestand.

The three-run blast was Cole’s second career homer, his first since 2014, and his two-out double in the fourth was the first of his career.

For some clubs, the sight of a pitcher at the plate is, at best, a whimsical sideshow. At worst, they’re an automatic out. Not so for the Pirates. They focused last spring on getting more out of their pitchers at the plate, and their starters have …

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