PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – These Pirates keep you listening until the end of the game, after giving up a home run to tie it in the ninth and three in the 10th, the Pirates had the tying run at third with one out, but left Bryan Reynolds there as the Padres come back to win 9-8 in 10 innings.
The Bucs are still four games back of the final Wild Card spot but have the Mets, Cardinals and Giants between them and the Braves with the Cubs one game back of the Pirates and the Reds 1.5 behind.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a grounder to short in the 10th with Andrew McCutchen on third and it was a contact play, McCutchen was thrown out at home as manager Derek Shelton explained as it was the first out of the inning.
“You are running contact there because you got second and third,” Shelton said. “We are going to get a guy to third anyway. Then they have a make a decision, first and third if they are going to try to turn a double play. Once we get to two strikes we can make a decision if we are going to run or not. They caught the ball. You have to catch it, throw it and catch it and they did.”
It’s a third loss in three outings in August for Colin Holderman allowing three runs, one earned in the 10th. It’s seven runs allowed in three innings this month and an ERA that was once 0.68 is now 3.21 and more importantly the Bucs are now six games back of San Diego in the Wild Card race.
“We had him and Santana left basically and Santana was our length,” Shelton said of why he turned to Holderman. “If we tie it there, Santana was going to have to finish the game with actually having volume yesterday. He’s the freshest guy.”
How they scored
Pirates scored their first six runs on two-out hits.
Nothing going in the first inning with a pair of strikeouts before Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a with a soft liner to right, San Diego’s Bryce Johnson dives for it, missed, it gets behind him for a triple. Next batter, Rowdy Tellez hit a 66 mile-an-hour check swing down the third base line which beat the shift for a RBI single. Following a walk, Ke’Bryan Hayes lined a 3-2 pitch down the first base line for a 2-0 Pirates lead. Along with scoring twice, they forced Padres starter Michael King to throw 33 pitches.
Jared Triolo was on third with no outs in the second inning following the Machado error and finally with two-out Bryan Reynolds looped one to left for a 3-1 lead and answering a home run from Merrill.
Pirates trailing in the fourth after a three-run homer by Kyle Higashioka, Andrew McCutchen hits a two-out solo homer to tie it.
Padres take the lead back in the fifth, Higashioka with a couple of passed balls, one got Hayes to third and the other wiped out a strikeout of Bae. Both runners would score on a two-out single by McCutchen for a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning.
Oneil Cruz, out sick Tuesday and struggling on defense kept the game tied in the ninth with a diving stop of a Luis Arraez liner for the final out of the ninth.
Cutch clutch
The three RBIs for McCutchen moved him past Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner for seventh place on the Pirates all-time runs batted in list with 802. The home run gives him 229, 11 HR shy of Roberto Clemente.
Record Pirates gas
A pair of all-stars matched up in the eighth inning with the Pirates leading 6-5 with two outs and runners on second and third. It was Aroldis Chapman, Major League Baseball’s all-time leader in strikeouts by a left-handed reliever, pitching for the Bucs against San Diego’s Manny Machado, eighth among active players in home runs. Here is how the sequence went.
· 100.5 mph (swinging strike)
· 101.8 mph (called strike)
· 102.7 mph (foul)
· 103.2 mph (foul)
· 105.1 mph (ball)
· 104.7 mph (called strike)
Since 2008, when detailed stats were kept, the last two pitches by Chapman were the hardest ever thrown by a Pirates pitcher (Chapman had previous record of 104 mph). It’s the ninth time Machado reached 105-plus MPH and first since 2016. Chapman’s hardest pitch ever was in 2010 when he struck out Tony Gwynn, Jr with a 105.8 mph fastball. The 36-year-old lefty has thrown 43 pitches 102 or more miles-an-hour.
"It feels good to be in that spot right now," Chapman said. "I struggled a little bit earlier in the season. And as a pitcher, that's what you want. You just want to be ahead in counts and attacking the strike zone, and I think I'm in a pretty good spot right now."
Chapman said Machado said something to him which led to the stare standing on the mound after the strikeout. When asked what Machado said, Chapman laughed and declined to disclose.
Minor League notes
· RHP Jared Jones will go to AAA to start a rehab assignment. He will likely throw around 45 pitches in his first game
· Lefty reliever Ryan Borucki is heading back to AAA to try and get some innings in without more left triceps inflammation
· 2021 second-round competitive balance pick, 21-year-old OF Lonnie White, Junior hit just his second home run since June at High A Greensboro. He has 13 HR and 39 RBI this season
· Greensboro batters struck out 16 times on Wednesday, Termarr Johnson whiffed three times.
· 18-year-old, right-handed hitting catcher Axiel Piaz out of Venezuela hit his 15th home run for Bradenton that’s third in the Florida State League. His batting average is .204, but the OPS is .778
Up Next
San Diego has yet to name a starter for the series finale with RHP Luis Ortiz (5-2, 3.21 ERA) going for the Pirates. The North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show with Paul Alexander on 100.1 FM and AM 1020, KDKA at 11:40a and first pitch at 12:35p.