Pirates rally in 9th inning to shock Dodgers, 9-7

There was a promise of fireworks at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, and the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers delivered — even before the postgame sky show started.

The game featured five home run blasts in front of a Fourth of July crowd of 51,487. The Dodgers hit four of them, but the Pirates rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to walk away with a 9-7 victory.

It also was a confrontation of the Dodgers’ $227.7 million payroll and the Pirates young, considerably less expensive lineup.

With defeat looming, rookie Jared Triolo smashed an RBI single into center field to erase the Dodgers’ 7-6 lead. Pinch-hitter Josh Palacios, a 27-year-old second-year player, followed with a two-run double and the 9-7 lead.

To nail down the victory, Pirates manager Derek Shelton called on All-Star closer David Bednar after the Dodgers took their one-run lead in the eighth. Bednar, named to the All-Star Game earlier in the day as a replacement for the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, got the last two outs of the eighth and three in the ninth to raise his record to 3-o.

The result was the Pirates (40-45) breaking their three-game losing streak in a most unexpected fashion.

“Sweet, sweet game,” Triolo said after the game on AT&T SportsNet.

“It’s a little difficult, but it’s what you dream about in the backyard when you’re a kid,” Palacio said of hitting the game-winner after sitting for eight innings. “You want to stand up there in the ninth inning with the game on the line and get that hit. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out, but we trusted our approach. It worked out there. We had some fun.”

Pirates rookies Nick Gonzales, Henry Davis and Triolo and 24-year-old Jack Suwinski stood toe-to-toe with the Dodgers (47-38), one of the National League’s best teams. They combined for eight hits, five RBIs and 13 total bases, including Suwinski’s 442-foot home run, his 18th of the season.

“They just continue to impress,” Shelton said. “They have good swings. They’re having good at-bats and it’s really cool to see, actually. On the Fourth of July at Dodger Stadium for four or five guys who were in Indy (Triple-A) about two weeks ago. Really proud of them because they just kept going.”

Palacios isn’t a rookie, but he started the season in Triple-A. On his decisive hit, he fell behind 0-2 before going the opposite way on relief pitcher Evan Phillips’ 93-mph cutter and dropping a double into left field.

“He’s aggressive. He stays within the game, doesn’t try to do too much,” Shelton said. “Right there, a huge spot, doesn’t try to drive the ball, just tries to put the ball in play. We talked about moving the ball forward. We moved the ball forward, found the outfield grass and got two runs because of it.”

The victory wouldn’t have been possible without the bullpen — five relievers — mostly shutting down the Dodgers after starter Luis Ortiz gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Colin Holderman and Bednar each contributed five outs. The Dodgers’ only run in the final six innings was a tie-breaking home run by Jonny Deluca off Angel Perdomo in the eighth that erected the 7-6 lead.

After that, Shelton turned to Bednar. He kept the deficit at one run by getting Mookie Betts, who hit his 23rd home run earlier, looking at strike three.

“That is his value,” Shelton said. “He comes in in the eighth and gets (Miguel) Rojas and then gets Betts and then goes through the heart of their order to be able to finish the game off. It was pretty impressive.”

From the outset, the lead see-sawed between both teams, with the Pirates up 2-0, down 4-2, up 5-4 and down 6-5 and 7-6. Davis’ RBI singles created a 6-6 tie in the sixth and set the stage for the late-inning drama.

“Yeah, it’s a big win,” Shelton said, even though the Pirates remained 6 1/2 games out of first place in the National League Central. “We’re talking about (defeating) one of the best teams in baseball and we had to battle back the entire game.

“The young kids can learn that regardless of where you are, it’s a baseball game and you just have to keep playing and they did a really nice job.”

Gonzales, who started his fifth game at shortstop, had two doubles and a single and now has nine RBIs and a .314 batting average after 11 games. The victory meant a lot to him because it wasn’t his first time in Dodger Stadium.

“It’s a dream come true to come here and play. I grew up coming to this park a few times in my life,” he said. “The atmosphere is really loud and it’s exciting. I think I kind of rolled with it and went out there and enjoyed it.”

He said moments that developed Tuesday were what the three rookies talked about while coming through the minors.

“You watch the big-league team every time they’re playing and when we’re not,” Gonzales said, “and you dream of this stuff. To come here and do it is really special.”

Especially on the Fourth of July, he said.

“It’s a blessing to come out here and play baseball on such a holiday. It was really cool for us. We knew going in it was going to be a lot of energy. Being in Dodger Stadium, anyway, there’s a lot of energy. Being the Fourth of July, it was even more crazy. I’m glad we got the W.”