Major League Baseball

Chad Kuhl's MLB debut included sweet play at plate, beating Kershaw

Published Jun. 27, 2016 7:20 a.m. ET

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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl squeezed a lot of highlights into five innings of action during his MLB debut.

He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, inducing a forceout on a grounder from Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig.

He worked the count to the tune of eight pitches against three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw in the second inning, then saw his teammates rally for four runs against the Dodgers ace afterward.

But his best play might have been his very last of the day.

In the fifth inning, he charged the plate after a wild pitch got past catcher Chris Stewart and made it there in time to get the throw back from Stewart and make a diving tag on Justin Turner to end the inning and preserve a 4-3 lead.

He punctuated the play with a fist pump (Turner had hit a two-run homer against two innings earlier) as he headed back to the dugout. The Pirates bullpen kept L.A. scoreless the rest of the way, preserving the win for Kuhl.

The whole experience is something Kuhl won't soon forget.

"You go up against him, and that's something you can dream about. My first debut was against Kershaw ... " Kuhl told reporters afterward.

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