Nick Gonzales delivers bases-loaded sacrifice fly to lift Pirates to walk-off win over Phillies

Nick Gonzales watched Isiah Kiner-Falefa drop a bunt that rolled slowly down the third base line before stopping in fair territory, leaving the bases loaded for the Pittsburgh Pirates with no outs in the ninth inning.

“I was as excited as if someone hit a homer,” Gonzales said. “To see that bunt just spin, then it kicked and hit a piece of dirt and then stayed fair. It was really cool to see from my perspective. I’m always hoping that I can get to the plate to win it. That’s every kid’s dream. After that bunt, I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to come up to the plate.’ I was just trying to prepare, slow the heart down and lock in on my approach.”

Then Gonzales allowed his adrenaline to do the talking.

In his third game back since returning from a fractured left ankle, Gonzales sent Jordan Romano’s 2-2 slider to the warning track in left field for a sacrifice fly to score Adam Frazier for a 5-4 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night before 23,243 at PNC Park.

“Tough situation: Bases loaded, all the pressure is on. That’s what you play the game for, to be in that moment. He lives for that. He loves those moments,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of Gonzales, who also had a triple in the first inning and scored a run. “He just has a knack for putting the ball in play, driving runs in with guys in scoring position.”

It was the third career walk-off RBI by Gonzales, who also had an RBI single in an 8-7 walk-off win over the Phillies last July 19 to lift the Pirates over .500. After leaving Opening Day, Gonzales spent two months recovering and rehabilitating the ankle injury.

The game was tied in the bottom of the ninth when Frazier hit a bloop to shallow left to lead off the ninth and advanced to second on Jared Triolo’s single to right. Kiner-Falefa dropped the bunt to load the bases, one that involved some divine intervention.

“Just praying that I get the job done right there, honestly. I was just praying,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I didn’t care if I got a hit or not. I was just like, ‘Stay fair. Stay fair somehow.’ It hit the very corner of my bat and I don’t have my cup, so usually when I do that, it stays fair somehow. Right when I hit it, I had a good feeling. I was just praying they didn’t touch it foul. Got lucky right there.”

The start of the game was delayed one hour, 23 minutes by rain, and the Phillies immediately took a 1-0 lead against lefty Bailey Falter, who allowed four runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 3⅔ innings. They got a leadoff single by Trea Turner, who reached second on Alec Bohm’s walk. A double steal put runners on second and third, and Turner scored on a groundout by Nick Castellanos for a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates quickly tied it, as Gonzales hit a triple to the right-center gap and scored on a single to right by Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the first. Reynolds went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez was removed prior to the start of the second inning with right elbow discomfort, a bad sign considering that he missed the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Henry Davis replaced Rodriguez behind the plate, although it left the Pirates shorthanded at a critical position.

Trea Turner started the third inning with a double off the Clemente Wall, then scored on a single to left by Bohm to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. The Phillies brought in lefty Tanner Banks in the third, only for Reynolds to smash a two-out, 399-foot solo shot to left field for his eighth home run to tie the game at 2-2.

The Phillies loaded the bases in the fourth when J.T. Realmuto hit a leadoff double, Edmundo Sosa drew a walk and Bryston Stott singled to right. Falter got the next two batters out before giving way to Chase Shugart, whose 2-2 cutter was hit for a two-run single to right by Turner to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead.

That lead didn’t last long. The Phillies turned to right-hander Alan Rangel for his major league debut, only for him to walk Alexander Canario on four pitches and surrender a two-run homer to Davis, who smashed a full-count cutter 402 feet to left to tie the game.

“You have to do that against a team like this,” Kelly said. “You have to do it against everybody if you can, but especially these guys to keep yourself in the game, keep the momentum going, keep it even and get it to yourself in the end. They just continued to battle all night.”

The Pirates couldn’t capitalize on their chances after that. Oneil Cruz stole second base in the fifth but was called out for batter’s interference on a Gonzales strikeout. Davis doubled but was stranded in the sixth. And Kiner-Falefa and Cruz got on base with one out in the seventh, only for Gonzales and Reynolds to line out.

Phillies reliever Matt Strahm struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth, and Pirates closer David Bednar answered in kind in the top of the ninth to set the stage for the comeback. Cruz went down looking at a called third strike with the bases loaded, setting the stage for Gonzales.

“We’re right there,” Kelly said. “That’s a pretty good team over there, and to be right there with them, pitch for pitch all the way to the end and find a way to come through, just proud of the guys the way they’re bouncing back after a tough night last night. They continue to compete. It was a great team win.”