Pirates rely on bullpen, 2-run rally in 10th to beat Braves, snap 3-game skid

After blanking the Atlanta Braves over the final four frames in front of the biggest crowd the Pittsburgh Pirates have seen this season, Derek Shelton didn’t hesitate to call his bullpen’s performance “outstanding.”

“I would say it’s right near the top,” the Pirates manager said.

In a game filled with highlights that ranged from Adam Frazier’s four-hit night to Kevin Newman driving in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, the Pirates’ ‘pen put the finishing touches on a 6-4 victory over the Braves on Thursday night before 21,430 at Truist Park.

Frazier, who leads the National League with 58 hits, went 4 for 5 to boost his batting average to .339. Newman’s RBI single off Jacob Webb (1-2) gave the Pirates the lead, one Gregory Polanco padded with a sacrifice fly off lefty Grant Dayton in the extra inning.

But the Pirates (18-25) snapped their three-game losing streak in large part because of how the bullpen answered the call after the Braves took a 4-3 lead on Dansby Swanson’s solo homer to lead off the sixth inning.

Clay Holmes retired the final three batters of the sixth, the last two by strikeout. David Bednar faced the top of the order and gave up a hit but got through the seventh unscathed. Chris Stratton pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. And closer Richard Rodriguez (3-0) earned the win after tossing scoreless innings in the ninth and 10th.

“That’s a tough lineup there,” Frazier said of the Braves, “and they just kind of neutralized them pretty good.”

The Pirates got a strong start by Wil Crowe, who allowed seven hits but gave up all four runs on the two homers while walking three and striking out seven on 94 pitches in five-plus innings.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first, when Frazier hit a leadoff double down the right field line and Jacob Stallings drove Drew Smyly’s 1-2 curveball 394 feet to left field for a two-out home run.

After a 1-2-3 first inning, Crowe gave up back-to-back singles to Austin Riley and Swanson. William Contreras hit a 1-2 sinker into the left field seats for a three-run homer to give the Braves (20-24) the lead.

Crowe got out of a jam in the third, thanks to a nice recovery by third baseman Erik Gonzalez on a Freddie Freeman bloop single to shallow left. Gonzalez barehanded it on one hop and threw to Newman, who threw to Frazier at second base to force out Ronald Acuna Jr. With runners on first and second, Crowe got Riley to fly out to left to end the inning without giving up another run.

Crowe handled more adversity in the fourth. Swanson, who went 3 for 4 and fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, led off with a double to left. The Braves then got a two-out surprise when Smyly got the first hit of his 11-year MLB career as his sharp grounder bounced off the left shoulder of Pirates first baseman Will Craig and into foul territory. Crowe walked Acuna to load the bases for Freeman but struck out the reigning NL MVP on a full-count changeup.

“It was a big moment in the game,” Crowe said, adding that Stallings calmed him down with a mound visit. “It was the first time in my career that I had that many fans in that environment. The stadium was rocking. It was a good moment. If they were going to beat me, they were going to beat me with my best stuff. I wasn’t going to beat myself. So I wanted to go right after him — me vs. him — and that’s what my mindset was. I executed a good pitch and got out of the jam.”

Bryan Reynolds led off the sixth by smacking Smyly’s four-seamer 420 feet to dead center for his fourth home run to tie it at 3-3. Crowe’s good fortune ran out in the bottom half of the sixth, when Swanson worked him for eight pitches before hitting a full-count, four-seamer 407 feet into the left field seats for a homer and 4-3 Braves lead.

From there, Crowe watched the relievers save the day.

“They’re incredible,” Crowe said. “Those guys are nails down there. We’ve got such a good bullpen, and everyone takes it upon themselves to do their job. Next man up mentality. They came in, they shut down a really good team and locked up that win for us. Those guys compete, and they’re really good. We have a good bullpen, and they keep showing it night in and night out.”

The Pirates improved to 3-1 in extra innings this season after going 1-5 last year. They can thank timely hitting from Frazier, who led off the 10th with a liner to right. Ben Gamel, who started extra innings on second base, hesitated and was held up at third.

Newman’s single to left did what Frazier’s leadoff liner didn’t — score Gamel — to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead. Reynolds followed with a single to right to load the bases. Stallings grounded to third, where Riley’s late throw to the plate forced out Frazier but didn’t get the double play. That left the bases loaded for Polanco, whose sacrifice fly scored Newman for a two-run cushion.

“Guys kept playing, man,” Shelton said. “They got after it. That’s a good team over there, and they continued to go. Kudos to them.”