Rainstorm provides reset for Pirates, who pound Mets to clinch series win
As timing goes, it was the perfect storm for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
A rainstorm interrupted the top of the second inning, as the New York Mets had a one-run lead and runners on first and second base with two outs. A 1-hour, 29-minute delay provided a reset.
The Pirates took advantage by scoring three runs in the second inning and adding six more in the eighth to pound the Mets for the second consecutive game, 9-2, on Saturday afternoon before 30,649 at PNC Park.
“Unfortunately, you get used to them here,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of the rain delay. “Dealing with a lot of weather here in Pittsburgh, and I think the guys respond pretty well coming out of it.”
After a 9-1 win over the Mets on Friday, the Pirates produced their biggest offensive outputs in back-to-back games since scoring 19 runs at Arizona on May 27-28. The Pirates clinched their first series win since taking two of three against Miami from June 9-11.
As important as the offense producing nine runs on 12 hits, including 6 for 12 with runners in scoring position, was how the bullpen handled the final 7 1/3 innings. Braxton Ashcraft, Dennis Santana and Caleb Ferguson all pitched multiple innings, and closer David Bednar tossed a scoreless ninth.
“That’s kind of what we expect from everybody in the bullpen. We’ve got a lot of good arms, and everybody did their job really well,” Ashcraft said. “And the guys at the plate put up a lot of runs. I think that that’s pretty indicative to the work that we’ve all put in over the last couple of weeks, especially making it a priority to go out and score runs early. We’ve done a really good job of that. And we’re just trying to continue that trend. And for us on the mound, just to get the damage whenever damage comes and put up as many zeroes as we can.”
The Mets jumped on Pirates lefty starter Bailey Falter from the start. Francisco Lindor hit a leadoff double to left, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice and scored on a single to right by Juan Soto for a 1-0 first-inning lead.
But the rainstorm stopped the game after a Luis Torrens single and a Lindor walk. After the delay, the Pirates replaced Falter with Ashcraft, and the rookie right-hander struck out Mark Vientos to escape.
Then the Pirates did some damage against Mets starter Paul Blackburn, who returned to the mound despite the delay. Oneil Cruz got the first of five consecutive hits, stealing second base and scoring on a Joey Bart single to tie the score. Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in Bart for a 2-1 lead, and Spencer Horwitz scored on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center by Adam Frazier for a 3-1 advantage.
“We were just feeding off each other from the guy in front, having a good AB and that leads to another good AB, especially after the rain delay there,” Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales said. “We just put our foot down on the pedal and kept on going. What did we have, five singles in a row? You do that to any pitcher and that’s demoralizing, for sure.”
The Pirates got a pair of big defensive breaks in the fourth inning. Brett Baty hit a line drive to left-center that Cruz overran but recovered to make a throw to hold Baty at second. That proved vital when Torrens hit a bouncer that skipped under Gold Glove third baseman Hayes. Shortstop Kiner-Falefa backed up the play, fielding the ball and tagging Baty out as he slid into third.
“When you talk about Izzy, he’s a baseball player,” Kelly said. “To be over there to be able to pick that up and make that head’s-up play was unbelievable.”
The Mets didn’t fail to capitalize in the fifth when Pete Alonso doubled off the center-field wall. Brandon Nimmo singled to right to score Alonso, cutting it to 3-2. But Santana struck out Starling Marte (swinging) and Tyrone Taylor (looking) to protect the lead and pitched a scoreless sixth, and Ferguson shut out the Mets in the seventh and eighth innings.
“When you talk about the bullpen, there are no egos out there,” Kelly said. “They’re ready to take the ball and have done have a fantastic job coming out of the ’pen.”
The Pirates loaded the bases in the eighth against Huascar Brazoban, when Gonzales hit a leadoff single and Bart and Horwitz drew walks. Hayes singled to right to score Gonzales to increase the Pirates’ lead to 4-2, causing the Mets to bring on lefty Colin Poche.
It made no difference, as the Pirates continued their offensive outburst. Kiner-Falefa drove in pinch runner Henry Davis with a groundout to third for a 5-2 lead. Pinch hitter Alexander Canario drew a walk to load the bases, and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run single. Bryan Reynolds followed with a two-run double to make it 9-2.
“It’s been great,” Gonzales said. “Not every game is like that. You have one-run ballgames or close games where you get your lead late in the game. To get our lead and hold it for the whole game was nice.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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