Pirates erupt in 10th, manage split in doubleheader vs. Tigers

By dropping Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader in Detroit, the Pittsburgh Pirates tied their longest skid under manager Don Kelly, losing their fourth straight.

Looking to avoid a series sweep vs. the Tigers at Comerica Park, they sent staff ace Paul Skenes to the mound in Game 2 as they wrapped up a seven-game road trip.

Skenes lasted six innings, departing with a two-run lead, but Detroit tied it in the seventh before a rain delay paused things with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

After a delay of approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes, the Pirates scored four runs in the 10th inning to win 8-4.

Leading off the top of the 10th, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled home automatic runner Tommy Pham, whose headfirst slide beat a throw from right fielder Kerry Carpenter, putting the Pirates up 5-4.

“The Tigers, they’ve got a great team over there, and to be able to finish it like that, with all the ups and downs throughout that game — really good finish,” manager Don Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show.

The Tigers challenged the play unsuccessfully, and manager AJ Hinch was ejected by crew chief Chris Guccione.

After Hayes, Nick Gonzales singled and Adam Frazier moved both men up with a sacrifice bunt. Jared Triolo was then intentionally walked to load the bases.

Joey Bart and Isiah Kiner-Falefa went on to collect RBI singles, handing the Pirates an 8-4 lead.

David Bednar (2-3, 3.16 ERA) recorded the final two outs of the ninth post-delay and pitched a clean 10th, picking up the win.

Dennis Santana had recorded one out and was facing Jake Rogers when the game, a make-up for Wednesday’s contest that was canceled because of inclement weather, entered a delay.

Entering the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates (30-46) led 4-0, when Detroit scored a pair off Skenes to trim the deficit.

Then, in the seventh, Colt Keith hit a tying two-run homer off Isaac Mattson, ensuring Skenes took a no-decision.

The start of Game 1 on Thursday afternoon was delayed 40 minutes by rain, with Andrew Heaney taking on Tarik Skubal, the 2024 AL Cy Young winner.

Heaney (3-6, 3.94 ERA) was roughed up in a 9-2 defeat, allowing a season-high seven runs while lasting only four innings.

Skubal (8-2, 2.06 ERA) wasn’t elite but did enough over 5⅔ to pick up the win.

In Game 2, Skenes (4-6, 1.85 ERA) tied a season-high in strikeouts (nine) but walked a career-high five.

He allowed two runs on three hits, throwing 61 of his 105 pitches for strikes.

“It was frustrating all around,” Skenes said of his outing. “Just kind of some big misses, obviously, out of the strike zone with those walks. That was kind of the story of the whole day. They probably should have scored more than they did. Lucky that I got out there with only two runs. It was pretty sloppy all-around.”

The Pirates got off to a better start Thursday evening than their drubbing in the afternoon. Gonzales made it 1-0 in the second inning with his second homer of the year, a solo shot off Tyler Holton.

The home run was Gonzales’ first since the season opener March 27, when he suffered a fractured ankle in the game and landed on the 60-day injured list.

Two batters later, after Frazier singled, Triolo made it 3-0 with a two-run shot to center field that traveled 422 feet.

The Pirates’ quick lead prompted Hinch to remove Holton, who has primarily worked out of the bullpen this year, in favor of Keider Montero.

In the third, Andrew McCutchen, who collected two hits in Game 1 and had a first-inning single, went deep off Montero.

McCutchen’s eighth homer of the year made it 4-0.

Meanwhile, Skenes kept the game scoreless, racking up strikeouts.

Rogers led off the third with a double, but Skenes navigated around it without issue, getting Gleyber Torres to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Skenes’ command slipped in the fifth as he issued a pair of walks before Torres ripped a two-run double into left-center field, making the score 4-2.

Preceding Torres’ hit was a confusing situation that required extensive dialogue among Thursday’s umpires.

Keith hit a slow grounder to Gonzales at second, with Trey Sweeney, running from first base directly in front of Gonzales, ruled out by Guccione, umpiring second base, for interference.

Gonzales managed to cleanly field the ball and retire Keith at first, seemingly for an inning-ending double play, but after a conference, only Sweeney was ruled out and a dead ball was called on Keith’s grounder, sending him to first and keeping the Tigers alive in the frame.

Two pitches later, Torres halved the Pirates’ lead with his two-run double.

In the sixth, Skenes issued his fifth walk but completed the inning by striking out his ninth batter, Zach McKinstry, on a 99 mph heater that was pitch No. 105.

The nine strikeouts tied Skenes’ season high (April 25, May 18).

Mattson took over for Skenes in the seventh and let up the tying, two-run homer to Keith, spoiling Skenes’ shot at his fifth win of the season.

McCutchen went 4 for 8 with a double, home run and two RBIs in the doubleheader, and Gonzales was 4 for 10 with a double, homer and RBI.

“Super proud of the team,” Gonzales said. “We’ve been kind of battling through this for a couple weeks now with the rain delays, so we’re used to it. … Happy to see the guys putting up some runs and Paul doing his thing, too.”