Bailey Falter solid, Pirates hit 3 homers to top Mariners, win series

Winning a series and stacking victories back-to-back had been foreign feelings for the Pittsburgh Pirates in August, as the club navigated through a debilitating 10-game losing streak.

The Pirates won their first game since Aug. 3 on Friday night, taking the series opener vs. Seattle at PNC Park. Saturday afternoon, they made it two wins in a row, topping the Mariners, 7-2, to win their first series since July 30.

Bailey Falter tied his career high in strikeouts (8) over 5 2/3 innings, picking up the win, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Rowdy Tellez and Jared Triolo hit home runs, elevating the Pirates.

“It feels nice,” said Oneil Cruz, the Pirates’ designated hitter Saturday. “The main thing here is we never lost our focus. Things were not going our way for a little bit, but today and yesterday we showed that as a team, we’re still playing good baseball.”

Up by five in the top of the ninth, the Pirates (58-64) quickly got in a jam after Domingo German walked a batter and plunked two more to load the bases with no outs.

That prompted manager Derek Shelton to turn to David Bednar, whose August ERA is 9.95.

Despite Bednar’s struggles of late, the two-time All-Star was locked in Saturday and quickly put out the fire German lit.

Bednar got some help on the first batter he faced, as Ji Hwan Bae robbed Victor Robles with a diving catch of a blooper in right field, before recording back-to-back strikeouts to end the game.

“(Bednar) looked more comfortable,” Shelton said. “Last night, he looked like he was forcing it a little bit and tonight he looked free and easy, which is important, too, coming in bases loaded, nobody out.”

Bednar picked up his 22nd save of the year.

Kiner-Falefa put the Pirates ahead 1-0 early when he hit a leadoff homer in the first inning off Seattle starter Luis Castillo.

Falter was a bit shaky through the early frames and let up three singles in the second, including an RBI base hit to Robles, tying the score 1-1.

But Falter recovered, delivering efficient third and fourth innings before Tellez hit his 10th homer of the year, a two-run shot in the fifth, to put the Pirates ahead 3-1.

Falter was one out away from a clean bottom of the fifth, but with two outs, Julio Rodriguez singled and was knocked in by a Jorge Polanco double, making the score 3-2.

He struck out the first two batters he faced in the sixth before Shelton replaced him with Kyle Nicolas.

Falter (6-7, 4.02 ERA) allowed eight hits and two runs to go along with his eight strikeouts and zero walks.

“Felt really good,” Falter said postgame. “Thought the fastball and slider were really good today. The curveball, I’ve been working on it for a while, (and it) had better action, better break today. Still can get a little bit better in that department. Overall, I thought we did really well.”

Ahead by a run after Falter’s departure, Bryan De La Cruz made it 4-2 by bringing home Joey Bart, who led off with a double in the bottom of the sixth.

A three-run seventh further cushioned the Pirates’ lead, with Seattle needing three relievers to escape the frame.

Triolo got things started with a solo shot to left field, his first homer since June 25, handing his club a 5-2 lead.

After a single by Kiner-Falefa, who went 3 for 4, Bart made it 6-2 with an RBI double.

He then was plated by Tellez, who collected an RBI double that bounced off the glove of left fielder Randy Arozarena.

Leading into German’s implosion, Dennis Santana came on and pitched clean frames in the seventh and eighth, recording three strikeouts.

German managed only five strikes on 13 pitches with a walk and two hit batters before being yanked to a chorus of boos.

In addition to Kiner-Falefa, Tellez (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) and Bart (2 for 4, two doubles and runs) had multi-hit afternoons for the Pirates.

“We had that 10-game losing skid, but we were an at-bat away or a pitch away from possibly being 5-5,” Falter said. “One-hundred sixty-two games is a long season, so we’re just taking it one at a time right now.”