CINCINNATI – The Pirates aren’t ready to wave the white flag. Not now.
Although the Reds had a nine-run lead in the third inning, Pittsburgh stormed back, scoring 13 unanswered runs and picking up a historic 13-12 victory at Great American Ball Park on Saturday night, halting a losing record with seven games remaining.
It was quite a comeback – in fact, according to Elias, it’s the biggest one the Pirates have accomplished in the franchise’s 142-year history. Entering the game, they were 0-819 when trailing by nine runs or more.
Pittsburgh’s victory was a slap in the face for the Reds, who trailed the Cubs by 2 1/2 games in the battle for the final National League Wild Card spot. Cincinnati is in the tiebreaker against Chicago and Arizona (and is three games ahead of the Reds), but the team also needs to overtake the Marlins to get into the playoffs.
“It feels good tonight. I’m just really proud of our group,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I would say it’s right at the top. … Walk-offs at home are really special, but with this group, this late in the year, it’s at the top of the list.”
Things looked bleak for the Pirates early on. Even the players admitted it. However, they never lost faith and slowly but surely gave up.
After gaining a run in the fourth on Alfonso Rivas’ RBI single, the Pirates began their comeback in earnest as they chased Reds starter Connor Phillips, who struck out nine batters in more than five dominant innings. As soon as Alex Young entered the game, Ji Hwan Bae and Joshua Palacios lined RBI singles to right before Bryan Reynolds smashed a three-run home run from the opposite field that cut the deficit to three in the sixth.
“It’s funny because [hitting coach Andy] Haines stood right next to me and said, ‘He’s hitting a home run here, this is getting serious,'” Shelton said. “He hit a home run and things got serious. I give them credit, man. They worked their butts off.”
The Pirates’ rally picked up right where it left off in the seventh as the first four batters reached base, capped by Rivas’ bases-clearing double to tie the game. Although they didn’t take the lead in that inning, the team had deflated the crowd and felt it was getting back into the swing of things.
The top of the eighth quarter was similar: Six of the first seven batters reached base, highlighted by RBI singles from Jack Suwinski and Rivas and a two-run double from Bae. This made it the second game in this four-game winning streak in which the Pirates scored a baker’s dozen.
Although the Pirates were mathematically eliminated from the postseason – they lose in tiebreakers to both the Cubs and the D-Backs, both of whom already have 81 wins – they were encouraged by their recent strong run of play.
“We’re playing really good baseball right now,” said Reynolds, who increased his on-base streak to 21 games. “But it feels like we’ve been doing this for a while now. We’re just going to keep going and keep getting better and prepare ourselves well for whatever the future brings.”
The key to the comeback was of course the ability to score multiple runs, but what was missing from the box score were the excellent defensive plays.
Cincinnati was dangerous in the eighth inning after cutting the deficit to two. With runners on first and second and one out, catcher Endy Rodríguez made a crucial block on a ball in the dirt. That kept runners from advancing and put Bae in position to make a diving stop on a hit to center before turning a last-second double play in the bottom of the inning.
The rookie Rodríguez again showed his veteran skills in the ninth when he took a mound visit with Carmen Mlodzinski after the Reds had put on their first two batters in the ninth. Although TJ Friedl pulled Cincinnati within one run with a double, Mlodzinski was able to earn his first MLB save by striking out Elly De La Cruz and fying out Jonathan India.
“I just feel like this is the new culture we want to establish going forward,” said third baseman Jared Triolo, who went 4 of 5 with three runs scored. “It was really fun to take part in the game, probably a lot of fun to watch too.”