Jacob Wilson's web gem helps A's preserve 1-run lead, hand Pirates 5th consecutive defeat

When former Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson, it recreated a moment of nostalgia from almost 19 years ago to the day at PNC Park.

On Sept. 16, 2006, 4-year-old Jacob threw out the first pitch to his father. On Friday night, Jacob provided another throwback to his father, the player known as Jumping Jack Flash for his defensive flair.

What could have become a rally instead turned into a robbery. With a runner on first and one out in the eighth inning, Jacob Wilson stole a base hit from Henry Davis with a backhand stop deep in the hole and a jump-throw to first base.

Lawrence Butler’s three-run homer gave the A’s a one-run lead that Wilson’s web gem preserved for a 4-3 win over the Pirates on Friday night before 20,584 on a fireworks night at PNC Park.

“He made a heck of a play on that ball there,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “For a catcher, Henry can run pretty well. He got down there pretty decent, and Jacob made a great play on that, for sure.”

The Pirates (65-89) extended their losing streak to five games. They have lost 12 of their past 13 games, including sweeps by the Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs.

The Pirates scored three runs in the first inning against A’s right-hander Luis Severino (7-11).

Leadoff batter Jared Triolo reached on an error by third baseman Darell Hernaiz and scored on Spencer Horwitz’s double to right for a 1-0 lead. Bryan Reynolds followed with a single to left to drive in Horwitz to make it 2-0, taking an extra base on the throw and advancing to third on Andrew McCutchen’s single before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales.

Keller (6-15) retired the first 11 batters he faced on 39 pitches — thanks to a nice catch by center fielder Oneil Cruz at the warning track in the first — before Nick Kurtz sent a 1-0 fastball 363 feet and over the Clemente Wall in right field for a solo shot that marked his 33rd home run to cut it to 3-1 with two outs in the fourth.

“They were hitting the ball hard all night, so, kind of was no surprise when I got hit for a couple homers,” Keller said. “Just wasn’t as crisp tonight. … Kurtz made a good swing. I thought I made a good pitch, just not my best sequencing.”

It was with two outs in fifth that Keller’s command became a problem. With Carlos Cotes on first, Keller issued a four-pitch walk to Zeck Gelof. Then he left a 2-1 changeup over the middle of the plate for Lawrence Butler, who crushed it 424 feet to center for his 21st homer to give the A’s a 4-3 lead.

“Really bad pitch, good swing,” Keller said. “That’s on me. Just bad.”

The Pirates stranded runners on first and second in the fifth and seventh innings. In the fifth, Reynolds doubled to second base when Gelof injured his left wrist while attempting to make a diving stop. Cruz drew a four-pitch walk, but Gonzales flied out to center. In the seventh, Reynolds drew a full-count walk and McCutchen singled to left against lefty Brady Brasso, but Tommy Pham flied out and Gonzales grounded out to end the inning.

The Pirates had 10 hits but went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11 runners.

“They got the big base hit with guys on that we needed,” Kelly said, “and we didn’t.”

That was especially true in the bottom of the ninth, when Rafael Flores led off with a double to the left-center gap. Alexander Canario pinch-ran for Flores and advanced to third on Reynolds’ groundout to second. McCutchen drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on the corners, prompting a mound visit to Michael Kelly by A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson.

But Pham grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.

“It’s the Achilles heel that we’ve talked about pretty consistently,” Kelly said. “When we’ve been struggling this year, it’s finding a way to come up with a big base hit. We just need to continue to get better at finding ways to put the ball in play, go the other way. When things have been good, we’ve been able to pass the baton and get big base hits. We just haven’t been able to do that recently.”