The Pittsburgh Pirates could’ve finished the long trip on a high note but fell short due to miscues and misfortunes.
Early on the Pirates found themselves in another hole down 5-0 to the San Francisco Giants through four innings.
At that point Bryan Reynolds decided to put the team on his back. With two on and no outs in the top of the fifth, Reynolds connected on a two-run double that would finally cut into the Pirates recent hitting with RISP woes. After a Michael Chavis flyout moved Reynolds to third base, he would then come home on a Ben Gamel groundout, cutting the Giants lead to 5-3.
A couple innings later, Reynolds would find himself in a similar situation with two on and no outs after Jason Delay and Kevin Newman each reached base safely. This time he decided he would rather trot around the bases than having to run by hitting a 3-run shot to center field, giving the Pirates a 6-5 lead. In total Reynolds would go 3-for-4 with five RBI’s and falling a triple shy of a the cycle. It was a strong performance after coming into the game 4-for-22 during the West Coast portion of the road trip.
Unfortunately for the Pirates bullpen the defense behind them didn’t appear as they had come to play.
Eric Stout entered the game in the bottom of the 7th to replace Colin Holderman after a leadoff single with a 6-5 lead. A walk sandwiched between two outs would bring up Brandon Crawford with men on first and second. Stout got Crawford to hit a ball that appeared it would be a soft flyout just behind second base, but instead dropped in over the outstretched arms of Oneil Cruz and Kevin Newman for a game tying double. Cruz looked as if he didn’t pick it up off the bat very well, and then there was a minor collision between Cruz and Newman.
Fast forward to the top of the ninth, Rodolfo Castro came up with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Castro hit a chopper to Evan Longoria that not only would he beat out but Longoria overthrew first base, allowing Bryan Reynolds to score from second while Ben Gamel would be thrown out at home trying to also score on the play. This gave the Pirates a 7-6 lead that they would take to the bottom of the inning.
Wil Crowe was on the mound for his second inning of work to close out the game. After a leadoff single, he induced what likely should’ve been a double play groundball. Unfortunately Josh VanMeter attempted a backhanded throw from a clearly-too-far distance that didn’t afford Cruz much time to get a throw off to first so Oneil just put the ball in his pocket.
One pitch later and it was game over as Thairo Estrada put a charge into the first pitch sinker for a two-run walkoff homerun.
The loss brought the Pirates West Coast road trip record to 1-6 or 2-8 for the overall road trip including the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates will now get a much needed day off before welcoming the Boston Red Sox to town for three games.
