Andrew Heaney's 10 strikeouts, Tommy Pham's walk-off single in 11th lift Pirates past Yankees

The Pittsburgh Pirates found the perfect antidote for the hot-hitting New York Yankees in soft-tossing left-hander Andrew Heaney, who lulled their torpedo bats to sleep with a fastball that sat a tick below 90 mph and a mix of offspeed and breaking pitches.

Heaney recorded 10 strikeouts in seven innings in his PNC Park debut, only for the Pirates’ lack of a closer to blow up in their face as the Yankees tied the score with a three-run ninth inning.

But after losing three of their first four games in walk-off fashion, the Pirates won one when Tommy Pham hit a line drive off the left-field wall to score Jack Suwinski in the 11th inning for a 5-4 win on a frigid Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 22,898 at PNC Park.

“To go the innings he went and get 10 Ks against that lineup,” Pham said of Heaney, “that’s huge.”

The fifth career walk-off hit for Tommy Pham ???? pic.twitter.com/W9U2di6qAD

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 6, 2025

With closer David Bednar demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis and setup man Colin Holderman placed on the 15-day injured list, the Pirates turned to righty Dennis Santana for a scoreless eighth inning.

The Pirates took a 4-1 lead into the ninth, only to blow it. With two left-handers and a switch hitter in the Yankees Nos. 4-7 spots, the Pirates turned to lefty Ryan Borucki. He struck out Jazz Chisholm Jr., but Anthony Volpe reached on a single to short.

Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes barehanded a bunt by Austin Wells and made an off-balance throw for the second out, but Borucki walked Jasson Dominguez. Oswald Peraza drilled a double down the third-base line to score Volpe and cut it to 4-2. With runners on second and third, Trent Grisham hit a two-run single to right to tie it — the day after hitting two home runs in a 10-4 win over the Pirates.

“I’ll be happy that we’re not playing Trent Grisham anymore,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, “because he’s killed us.”

The 33-year-old Heaney allowed one run on five hits and one walk. He threw 67 of his 100 pitches for strikes, getting 16 whiffs on 45 swings and 22 called strikes. He relied primarily on a four-seam fastball that averaged 89.8 mph, topping out at 92.1, but kept the Yankees off-balance with his changeup, slider, sinker and curveballs, including four that averaged 71.3 mph.

It was the 21st double-digit strikeout game of Heaney’s 13-year career. That he did it against a Yankees team that set an MLB record with 18 home runs through their first four games and was averaging 10.25 runs a game entering Sunday only magnified the performance.

“We’ve seen over the first 10 days, that’s a very potent lineup,” Shelton said. “That’s what Andrew Heaney does. He mixes and matches. He keeps people off balance, and that was seven really strong innings. To go through that lineup the way he did with one run, it was extremely impressive.”

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, when Cody Bellinger singled to shortstop, stole second base and scored on a double to right-center by Chisholm. But Heaney struck out six of the first 11 batters he faced, eight through four innings and fanned 2024 AL MVP Aaron Judge twice, getting him looking at a full-count four-seamer to end the third.

“He’s obviously a great hitter,” Heaney said of Judge, who leads the majors with six homers. “You just try and pick and choose your spots with him.”

The Pirates rallied in the bottom of the third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who replaced Jared Triolo (low back discomfort) at shortstop, drew a leadoff walk off Will Warren, and Hayes followed with a single to left. Both scored when designated hitter Bryan Reynolds belted a 3-1 sinker for a 402-foot double off the bullpen fence to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.

Oneil Cruz made a diving catch in shallow center to rob Volpe of a hit, only to misplay the bounce on a Wells line drive that rolled to the warning track for a triple. Heaney escaped the jam by striking out Dominguez to end the fourth inning.

The Pirates responded with two runs. It started with a one-out triple to the right-center gap by Enmanuel Valdez, who scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Pham for a 3-1 lead. Adam Frazier followed with a single, scoring on Kiner-Falefa’s double to left for a 4-1 advantage.

Heaney kept the Yankees from scoring again through seven, and Santana pitched a clean eighth.

“I thought once he got out, we were going to give our bullpen a breather today,” Pham said. “But I was wrong. That’s probably what I get for assuming.”

After Borucki gave up the tying runs, Chase Shugart, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis before the game, got Paul Goldschmidt to ground out to second to end the frame. Lefty Caleb Ferguson had runners on the corners in the 10th but got out of the jam, thanks to a pair of plays up the middle by Frazier.

Luke Weaver got Suwinski swinging with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Suwinski’s 11th strikeout in 21 at-bats.

Suwinski would atone for that swing and miss by swiping a bag in the 11th that put the Pirates in position to win. After Pirates lefty Joey Wentz escaped a jam with runners on first and third, Suwinski started the bottom of the inning at second base as the automatic runner. He stole third, putting extra pressure on Yankees closer Devin Williams.

“A lot less pressure on me when he’s 90 feet closer,” Pham said. “There’s a few more ways to score a run when you’re at third, compared to when you’re at second.”

Shelton believed it changed the complexion of how the Yankees played defense — with both the infield and outfield playing in — than if Suwinski was still at second base.

“From watching where that ball was hit, I don’t think it would’ve been caught either way, but it also changes the dynamic of what’s the pitch mix, if there’s a pitch thrown in the dirt and it’s blocked,” Shelton said. “It’s a big moment, he got a really good read and it ended up being a major turning point in the game.”

Pham put the finishing touch on it by smacking a full-count changeup from Williams 388 feet to left for his fifth career walk-off hit and first major moment with the Pirates.

“It felt great,” said Pham, who struck out three times and is batting .100. “I’ve been struggling, of course. Finally. Finally hit the ball hard, finally found barrel. It’s a good thing when you find barrel as a hitter. … It’s always good to have a moment like that when you’re new to the team, especially.”