Jason Delay's RBIs, Roansy Contreras' 2-hitter help Pirates beat Dodgers
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On a day of feel-good stories, the Pittsburgh Pirates had an outpouring of emotions from start to finish.
Bryan Reynolds admitted that months of negotiations for a contract extension weighed on him, so the Pirates outfielder was looking forward to concentrating solely on baseball after signing an eight-year, $106.75 million contract, and his RBI single broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning.
The biggest cheers, however, came when 33-year-old Drew Maggi made his long-awaited major-league debut in the eighth inning.
But the Pirates’ battery did the most damage. Roansy Contreras allowed two hits over six scoreless innings, and catcher Jason Delay delivered three hits and three RBIs as the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 8-1, on Wednesday night before 12,152 at PNC Park.
A night after blowing a five-run lead in an 8-7 loss Tuesday night that snapped their seven-game winning streak, the Pirates (17-8) rebounded with a big win to remain a game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers (16-9) atop the NL Central.
“That’s how it should be,” Contreras said through translator Stephen Morales. “As a team, we need to leave bad games behind and come back the next day to play hardball and try to win the games.”
Maggi’s moment might have been the best of the night. After playing in 1,154 games in 13 minor-league seasons and four days in the majors without playing in a game, Maggi pinch hit for Andrew McCutchen in the eighth. Maggi spent time with affiliates of the Pirates and Dodgers, and fans for both teams chanted his last name as he fouled off two pitches before striking out.
“It was way more than I expected,” Maggi said. “I didn’t even know what to do when (the fans) started chanting my name. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take off my helmet. … It was overwhelming for me. I was trying to focus on the (at-bat) but also like trying to really enjoy the moment, too. There was a lot going on in my mind. It was the coolest thing I could ever imagine. It was the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
The game was scoreless in the fifth when Ji Hwan Bae hit a leadoff single to center off Phil Bickford, then stole second base. Delay’s sacrifice bunt moved Bae to third, and Ke’Bryan Hayes drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners for Reynolds with one out.
Reynolds singled through the left side, driving in Bae for a 1-0 lead as Hayes raced to third. That put runners on the corners for McCutchen, who hit a bloop single to shallow right to score Hayes for a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers turned to lefty Justin Bruihl, who got Carlos Santana to ground into a forceout. It was ruled a double play, but the Pirates won a challenge when video review showed Santana beating the throw by Miguel Vargas to first. Jack Suwinski flew out to end the inning.
Dodgers catcher Austin Wynns broke up Contreras’ no-hit bid with a leadoff single to center in the sixth. Freddie Freeman’s one-out single to right put runners on first and second, but Contreras got Jason Heyward to fly out to right and James Outman to left to end the Dodgers’ scoring threat.
The Pirates stretched their lead to 3-0 after Rodolfo Castro doubled in the bottom of the sixth. His fly ball bounced off the glove of a sliding Outman in left field. Castro reached third on Bae’s single up the middle and scored when Bruihl couldn’t handle Delay’s comebacker.
The Pirates added five runs in the seventh. Rodolfo Castro’s two-run single scored Carlos Santana and Jack Suwinski for a 5-0 lead. Bae singled to third, but pinch runner Tucupita Marcano was called out while making a headfirst slide into home plate.
The Pirates challenged, arguing Wynns blocked the plate with his outstretched left leg, and the call was overturned after a video review to make it 6-0. Delay’s two-run double to left drove in Castro and Bae for an 8-0 lead.
Freeman hit a two-out home run to right off Dauri Moreta in the eighth inning to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 8-1. Moreta struck out the final four batters he faced, fanning the side in the ninth for the win.
“That’s what I’ve said about this group all year long: They’re resilient. They bounce back,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Last night was a tough loss. It was a game that we were winning, and we did not execute. And for Ro to come out and do what he did and just execute pitch after pitch. And I thought JD did a really good job with him. I mean, no-hit through five with that lineup, that’s not easy to do.”
Source: TribLIVE
