The Pirates salvaged the final game of the series against the Yankees thanks to Tommy Pham's walkoff single in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Pittsburgh had a 4-1 lead in the top of the 9th inning with two outs and two men on base. Ryan Borucki gave up a double to Oswald Peraza, making it a 4-2 Pirates lead. Trent Grisham came to the plate and delivered a two run single to right field to tie the game.
In the bottom of the 10th inning the Pirates had the bases loaded with two outs and Jack Suwisnki at the plate. Suwinski struck out on a changeup to keep the game tied. In the top of the 11th, Joey Wentz slammed the door shut on the Yankees hitters with two punchouts and kept them off the board.
Suwinski began the bottom of the 11th as the automatic runner on second base. The Yankees turned to their closer, Devin Williams to try and get the game to the 12th inning. Emmanuel Valdez hit a flyball to left field to left field for out number one. Suwinski had to stay at second base. He decided to steal third to get 90 feet away from home with Pham at the plate.
With the infield and outfield both playing in, Pham was able to launch a fly ball over the left fielders head to the warning track to win the game for the Pirates.
"You're talking about one of the best closers in the game, and for Tommy to grind through that at bat, I think he fouled off a 3-2 changeup, fouled off a 3-2 fastball, and then got another changeup. All he's trying to do is put the ball in play, put the ball in the air and took a really good swing at it," said manager Derek Shelton.
Andrew Heaney pitched extremely efficient in the game for the Pirates. He allowed just one run on five hits. He struck out ten batters and only walked one.
"I think as we've seen over the last ten days, that's a very potent lineup. They're averaging about nine runs a game and this is what Andrew Heaney does, he mixes and matches, he keeps people off balance. That was seven really strong innings, to go through that lineup the way he did, with one run, it was extremely impressive," said Shelton.
Up Next
The Pirates host the Cardinals for a three game series. Dan Zangrilli starts the North Shore Tavern Lead Off Show at 5:45. First pitch is at 6:40. Carmen Mlodzinski (0-1 9.82) will get the start vs Matthew Liberatore (0-0 4.50).