Pirates rally in 9th inning to defeat Reds, split series

Cole Tucker took a step off third base and watched intently as the fly ball sailed into right field off Erik Gonzalez’s bat.

Not especially deep, but just deep enough.

The sacrifice fly scored Tucker with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park.

But while the ball was in flight, a voice inside Tucker told him not to run. The ball wasn’t deep enough.

“I wasn’t going to run, instinctually,” he said.

But a stronger voice behind him, belonging to third base coach Joey Cora, convinced him otherwise.

“Cora was behind me, ‘Go, go, go, go, go,’ ” Tucker said. “So, I took off.

“Joey being Joey, he sent me.”

As it turned out, Tucker scored easily to give the Pirates (13-26) their fifth victory in their last at-bat and a split of their four-game series with the Reds.

Still, that wasn’t the end of the story. The Reds challenged the call, saying Tucker left third base too soon.

“It wasn’t even a thought in my head, honestly,” he said, recalling that he made a point of going back to touch third base. “I knew I was on the bag (while the catch was made), but it’s still nerve-wracking seeing umpires with the headsets on.”

Replay review validated Tucker’s memory, and the Pirates left with the victory, eager for an off day Monday before playing 21 games in the final 20 days of the season.

The Pirates entered the ninth trailing 2-1, but Josh Bell and Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the ninth with singles off Reds closer Raisel Iglesias, who was looking for the 104th save of his career.

Tucker’s single scored Bell to tie the score, and Kevin Newman pinch-hit for catcher John Ryan Murphy and bounced a grounder back to Iglesias. Hayes, who was on third, kept himself in a rundown long enough for Tucker to reach third and Newman to jog into second, taking away any possibility of a double play.

Gonzalez, who doubled earlier, has become the Pirates’ most reliable hitter in the past month, raising his average to .289, second to Jacob Stallings among the team’s regulars. He leads the Pirates with 14 extra-base hits.

Gonzalez had one hit in his first 12 at-bats this season before he arrived in Minnesota on Aug. 3 and started playing almost every day. He went 4 for 8 in that two-game series and has kept up his hot streak for more than a month.

“Since that time, he’s been our best player,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We talk about opportunities. We talk about meritocracy in terms of playing, and he deserves to play.”

Tucker went several steps further in his praise.

“Me and Newman were talking in the dugout during the game (Saturday),” Tucker said, “ ‘Dude, this guy is like the best player on earth,’ and he has been.”

Three singles and a sacrifice fly won the game, but that rally was only the fourth time in nine innings the Pirates had runners in scoring position.

Truthfully, the bullpen saved Chad Kuhl after a shaky start and made the game close enough for the Pirates to seize it.

Kuhl struck out five but walked four and left the game after three innings and 64 pitches. Shelton said he told Kuhl before the game he was planning to allow him to throw only 65, out of respect for his Tommy John surgery less than two years ago.

“One of the things we’ve talked about numerous times,” Shelton said, “is being extremely mindful of health.”

Relief pitchers Geoff Hartlieb, Sam Howard, Chris Stratton, Nik Turley and Richard Rodriguez allowed one hit and no runs over the final six innings.

“All these guys are showing up,” Tucker said “It’s fun to reward them with a W once in a while. We needed to win that one. When you pitch that well, you have to win ball games.”

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