After smoke delay, Pirates rally from 4-run deficit to beat Padres, sweep series
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A game that started in a smoke delay ended with the Pittsburgh Pirates bringing out their brooms.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit, scoring three runs in the seventh inning to beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4, on Thursday afternoon before 16,871 at PNC Park to sweep the three-game series.
The start of the game was delayed 45 minutes after Pirates players complained about concerns over an unhealthy air quality index, as a haze of smoke hung over the city for the second consecutive day.
Pirates rookie right fielder Henry Davis went 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI singles, including one to drive in the winning run after they tied the score on a play that involved a throwing error.
For the second consecutive game, the Pirates overcame a strong start from their opponent. Padres righty Joe Musgrove held the Pirates to two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six in six innings.
Pirates starter Luis Ortiz allowed four runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, and three walks without a strikeout in 4 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander had given up more than two runs only once in his past five starts, when he allowed four runs on six hits in an 11-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on June 13.
Ortiz got through the Padres lineup on six pitches in the first inning but encountered trouble in the second. Jake Cronenworth singled, reached third on Roughned Odor’s single to center and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Ha-Seong Kim for a 1-0 lead.
Trent Grisham then hit Ortiz’s 2-0 95.2 mph fastball 419 feet into the right-field seats for a two-run homer to give the Padres a 3-0 advantage.
Ortiz surrendered another homer in the fourth, this one a solo shot by Kim on a 2-2 97.3 mph fastball that sailed 397 feet and into the left-field bleachers for 4-0 Padres lead.
The Pirates cut it to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, when Davis hit a leadoff single to left, advanced to third on Carlos Santana’s double to right and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales.
Ortiz left with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, after sandwiching walks to Juan Soto and Cronenworth around a Xander Bogaerts single. Lefty Ryan Borucki replaced Ortiz and got pinch hitter Brandon Dixon to fly out to center to leave the runners stranded.
Andrew McCutchen led off the sixth with a double to left and scored on Davis’ single down the left-field line to cut it to 4-2.
The Pirates took advantage when the Padres turned to lefty reliever Tim Hill, as pinch hitter Rodolfo Castro drew a leadoff walk and Jared Triolo worked an eight-pitch at-bat for a single to center in his second MLB game.
With runners on second and third, Suwinski hit a dribbler down the first-base line that scored Castro. Hill barehanded the ball but spun and threw into foul territory, an error that allowed Triolo to score the tying run. Padres manager Bob Melvin turned to righty Luis Garcia, who gave up a two-out bloop single to right by Davis that allowed Suwinski to score from second for a 5-4 lead.
Pirates lefty Angel Perdomo struck out Cronenworth and Dixon to start the eighth but when Kim lined a two-out double to left, manager Derek Shelton turned to David Bednar, and the All-Star closer got Grisham swinging at a curveball for a strikeout to end the scoring threat.
In the ninth, Bednar put the tying run on base when he walked pinch hitter Gary Sanchez but responded by striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Soto before getting Manny Machado to ground out to third to earn his 16th save.
Source: TribLIVE
