Pirates blow 5-run lead as Giants rally to tie game in 9th, win in extra innings

When Bryan Reynolds hit a grand slam for a five-run lead in the fourth inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates had the comfort of a cushion only one night after requiring a four-run rally in the ninth to win in extra innings.

This time, they reversed roles.

The San Francisco Giants chipped away at their deficit until they tied the score with two outs in the ninth. Then they batted through the order in the 10th, pounding the Pirates for four runs on the way to a 9-5 win Wednesday night before 13,830 at PNC Park.

“It’s challenging,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I mean, we were one pitch away twice. … So, it was a game that we should have won. We were right there, and we just didn’t finish it.”

After Pirates reliever Carmen Mlodzinski walked Matt Chapman to start the 10th, he surrendered three consecutive singles: Patrick Bailey to right to score automatic runner Thairo Estrada and give the Giants the lead, Jorge Soler to left to drive in Chapman to make it 7-5 and Heliot Ramos to right to load the bases with no outs.

Mlodzinski struck out Mike Yastrzemski, but Brett Wisely hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Bailey and Luis Matos sliced another single to right to drive in Soler to give the Giants a 9-5 lead.

After a blown save in Tuesday’s 7-6 loss, Giants closer Camilo Doval struck out Jack Suwinski and got Nick Gonzales to ground out before Oneil Cruz drew a full-count walk to put runners on first and third. Joey Bart drilled a liner down the third-base line, but four-time Gold Glove winner Chapman knocked it down and threw him out to end the game.

It was a deflating ending to a game that began as a pitching duel between Giants left-hander Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young winner, and Pirates rookie right-hander Jared Jones.

Snell had 10 strikeouts against the Pirates last June 28 at PNC Park on his way to winning the NL Cy Young, and Jones recorded double-digit strikeouts twice in his first seven starts.

In his first start since April 23, Snell (left adductor strain) gave up three hits and two walks but recorded five strikeouts through three scoreless innings. After Snell struck out the first two batters in the second, Bart and Jared Triolo hit back-to-back line drives for singles. But Snell got Michael A. Taylor swinging at a four-seamer at the top of the strike zone. The Pirates had runners on the corners in the third inning before Snell got Gonzales to chase a curveball in the dirt.

The Pirates, however, loaded the bases against Snell in the fourth. Cruz drew a four-pitch walk, Bart beat Chapman’s throw on a dribbler to third and Taylor earned a full-count walk. When Snell clipped Andrew McCutchen in the right foot with a 3-2 curveball, it scored Cruz for a 1-0 lead.

Reynolds then tagged Sean Hjelle, crushing a full-count cutter 386 feet to right field for his second career grand slam and a 5-0 lead. It was the third slam of the season by a Pirate — Edward Olivares hit one May 6 against the Los Angeles Angels and Suwinski on April 14 at the Philadelphia Phillies — and the first for Reynolds since Sept. 5, 2021, at the Chicago Cubs.

The Pirates, however, went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and didn’t score another run, drawing only two walks over the final six innings.

“We’ve got to create more opportunities,” Shelton said. “We did a really good job in that inning; Bryan hit the grand slam. And then after that, we did not create any opportunities.”

With the Pirates batting through the order, the long time down appeared to affect Jones in the fifth. Bailey hit a leadoff double and scored on a single to left by Soler to cut it to 5-1. LaMonte Wade Jr. started the sixth with a single to center, and Chapman crushed an 0-1 fastball 421 feet to left-center for his seventh home run to cut it to 5-3. Bailey singled to center, but Jones got Soler to fly out to the warning track in left, then got Ramos swinging for his fifth strikeout.

In allowing three runs on six hits and three walks on 93 pitches, Jones clinched his sixth quality start in 10 outings. He got the Giants to ground into double plays in the second, third and fourth innings.

“Obviously, I need to get better at throwing certain pitches in tight spots where that could end up costing us the ballgame,” Jones said. “I think that’s what happened. (If) I don’t give up that home run to Chapman, if I throw a better pitch, we probably walk away with a win.”

Pirates reliever Hunter Stratton cruised through the seventh, but lefty Aroldis Chapman struggled in the eighth. Chapman threw 12 consecutive balls, walking Wade on a full count and Estrada and Chapman on four pitches apiece to load the bases before being pulled.

“Just didn’t command the ball, very simply,” Shelton said. “He threw the first two strikes to LaMonte and then after that just lost control of the zone.”

Colin Holderman came in and got Bailey swinging for the first out, but Soler dropped a bunt that allowed Wade to score to cut it to 5-4. Holderman then struck out Ramos on a 2-2 sweeper to protect the lead.

The Pirates sent Holderman back out for the ninth, and he struck out Yastrzemski and got pinch hitter Wilmer Flores to line out to center. But Matos singled to left and reached second on a fielding error when Reynolds bobbled the ball, putting the tying run in scoring position. Wade followed with a single to right to drive in Matos to make it 5-5. Mlodzinski struck out Estrada to keep the score knotted.

The Pirates had the top of their order up in the bottom of the ninth, but Giants righty Ryan Walker struck out McCutchen, got Reynolds to ground out and Connor Joe to pop out in foul territory to send the game into extra innings.

“It always sucks. The first and last out are always the hardest,” Holderman said. “At least I die by best pitch, the sweeper. Can’t look back and say I wish I would have thrown something else. They did it. We had some late-inning magic (Tuesday), and they did today. We live and die by it.”