Pirates pound 17 hits to dominate Diamondbacks, move into 1st-place tie
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When the Pittsburgh Pirates last played at PNC Park, they scored a grand total of nine runs over a six-game homestand against the Toronto Blue Jays and Colorado Rockies.
This time, the Bucs brought their bats.
Behind a seven-run fourth inning and Bryan Reynolds’ three-run homer in the fifth, the Pirates pounded the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 13-3 win Friday night before 25,903 at PNC Park.
It was the second consecutive lopsided victory for the Pirates, coming off an 8-0 win at Detroit on Wednesday after losing 12 of their previous 14 games. The Pirates had 17 hits, including five doubles, and drew six walks. They went 8 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
“At times you create your own breaks,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “Early on, it seemed like we were getting a bunch of those then building off it, like we did (Friday night). When we went through that stretch, that wasn’t so much the case — or it really wasn’t the case.”
With the win, their third in four games, the Pirates (24-20) moved into a first-place tie in the NL Central with the Milwaukee Brewers (24-20), who lost at Tampa Bay, 1-0. The Diamondbacks (25-20) remained in second place in the NL West behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“We’ve played well in three of our last four games, going back to Mitch’s start in Baltimore,” Shelton said, referring to the 4-0 win Sunday over the Orioles. “I was really proud because we were facing one of the best pitchers in baseball, and we came out and did a really good job with our approach.”
That the hit parade Friday started against Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (6-2) was unexpected. Gallen entered the game with a 2.35 ERA but allowed five earned runs on eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings. The eight runs were the most allowed by Gallen in 91 career starts.
That was comparable to what the Pirates did against Gallen in 13 innings over two starts last season, when he held them to a combined two runs on eight hits and five walks while recording 12 strikeouts.
Andrew McCutchen, who went 3 for 4 with a walk, got the Pirates started with a leadoff single in the first inning and set the tone as four players had three hits for the second time this season.
The Pirates didn’t score until Carlos Santana hit a leadoff double in the second inning ,and Ke’Bryan Hayes (3 for 5) followed with a double for a 1-0 lead.
The Pirates had runners on first and third when Austin Hedges hit a grounder up the middle. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo scooped it behind the bag and made a throw to first to save another run from scoring.
Perdomo tied it 1-1 in the third, driving Johan Oviedo’s 3-1 fastball 405 feet to center for his fourth home run. It was the lone run and one of only two hits allowed by Oviedo (3-3), who notched his fourth quality start of the season with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Oviedo debuted a sinker, which allowed his slider to generate 12 called strikes and five whiffs as he threw 55 of his 96 pitches for strikes.
“A lot of take with the slider,” Oviedo said. “I haven’t been able to get it like that in a while. People were backing out because of how well the sinker played. Really happy with the result.”
The Pirates heated up in the fourth, when Tucupita Marcano drew a full-count walk and Ji Hwan Bae (3 for 4 with a walk) doubled to left-center to put runners on second and third with one out.
The Diamondbacks drew their infield in, only for lefty Josh Palacios to hit a two-run single to left for a 3-1 lead. It was the first hit as a Pirate for Palacios, who was 0 for 9 in five games but also went 3 for 4 with a walk.
When Hedges reached on an error by third baseman Josh Rojas, the Pirates poured it on.
McCutchen worked a five-pitch walk to load the bases, and Reynolds drew a full-count walk that scored Palacios for a 4-1 lead. Jack Suwinski sliced a two-run double down the right-field line for a 6-1 lead. When Hayes hit a two-out single to score two more runs for an 8-1 lead, Gallen got the hook.
The seven runs in the fourth were the most in a single inning for the Pirates since they scored eight in the eighth against Cincinnati on Oct. 1, 2021 at PNC Park. It marked the third time this season the Pirates sent 10 or more batters to the plate in an inning.
“I think it gives us a lot of confidence,” Palacios said. “We had some ups, we had some downs, we had a little bit of an offensive drought for a little while but it just reminds the guys we have a lot of hitters. We can hit and if we stick to our guns and stick to our process, we’ll be all right.”
The Pirates didn’t stop hitting. Bae got a leadoff single in the fifth, and McCutchen’s two-out single to right put runners on the corners for Reynolds, who drilled lefty Anthony Misiewicz’s 2-2 slider 407 feet to left for a three-run homer and an 11-1 lead. It was Reynolds’ sixth home run of the season but his first since April 7 — a span of 134 at-bats between round-trippers, the longest stretch of his career.
“You really saw the aggressiveness in his swings,” Shelton said. “With the exception of the first swing (a double play ball), every swing he took was aggressive — even when he was with two strikes. That’s when Bryan Reynolds is going at his best.”
The Diamondbacks added a pair of runs in the seventh against Duane Underwood Jr., who walked Gabriel Moreno and Dominic Fletcher. Both advanced on the infield fly rule when a pop-up by Perdomo dropped in front of Marcano, who attempted to turn a double play. Rojas drove in both with a double to right to cut it to 11-3.
Underwood was removed from the game because of right forearm tightness and was being examined and treated, prompting Shelton to turn to Yohan Ramirez.
The Pirates tagged a position player, catcher Jose Herrera, for a pair of runs in the eighth. Hayes hit a leadoff double and scored on Bae’s single up the middle, and Palacios singled to right to drive in Marcano to make it 13-3.
“It was amazing,” Oviedo said. “We have our heads up moving forward. I was really blessed to have a lot of support from the team. We’ve been doing hard work. I’m really happy to see how it has been.”
Source: TribLIVE
