Yoshi Tsutsugo's 3-run homer in 9th leads Pirates to victory against Cardinals

Throw Yoshi Tsutsugo’s name onto the growing pile of questions facing the Pittsburgh Pirates when this season ends.

Tsutsugo, who can become a free agent in the offseason, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday after most of his teammates had failed with a bat in their hands. Swinging at the first pitch from St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Alex Reyes, he belted a three-run homer 422 feet into the right-field seats at PNC Park to give the Pirates an all-of-a-sudden, 4-3 victory in front of a crowd of 10,290.

“I was just trying to hit a hard ball,” he said through translator Brian Tobin.

Bryan Reynolds walked, and Jacob Stallings forced another free pass from Reyes, putting a Pirates runner in scoring position for only the second time in the game. Tsutsugo’s homer — his fifth in 13 games with the Pirates — left his bat at 105.8 mph, the hardest hit ball of the game, sending the playoff-hopeful Cardinals (66-63) to their fourth loss in the past seven games against Pittsburgh.

“That was fun,” manager Derek Shelton said.

YOSHI WITH THE WALKOFF HOMER!#RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/eWaWhrxPkc

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) August 29, 2021

Starting pitcher Wil Crowe said reliever Chad Kuhl called Tsutsugo’s shot while both were in the clubhouse in the ninth inning.

“Chad walked by and said, ‘How about a Yoshi bomb here?’ ” Crowe said. “We were all like, ‘Yeah. we’d love that. Wouldn’t that be awesome?’ Sure enough, he hit it, and we started hearing the broadcasters yell. That was awesome. Yoshi is awesome.”

Until the Pirates signed him Aug. 16, Tsutsugo, who will turn 30 before next season, was in Oklahoma City, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, trying to work his way back to the major leagues. He hit 10 home runs in Triple-A, but zero in 38 games with the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays this season.

With five home runs, he is only three behind Stallings, who is second among players still on the team.

Tsutsugo had been playing in Japan since 2010 where he hit 255 career home runs. Asked if he believes he’s in the U.S. to stay, he wasn’t prone to be that bold.

“That’s not something I can determine,” he said, “but I just want to do my best to help the Pirates win.”

The Pirates (48-83) must determine if they want to sign Tsutsugo to a new contract after the season — his efforts in the remaining 31 games will help them make that decision — but Shelton is impressed at the moment.

“This is a guy who had a really good career in Japan,” he said. “He’s come over to the big leagues and scuffled at times, went down to the minor leagues and worked on things and made adjustments. We’re reaping the benefits of that. He’s done a nice job so far.”

He has only 27 at-bats with the Pirates, but nine hits — eight for extra bases — and 11 RBIs.

Tsutsugo said he made “a whole bunch of adjustments” in Oklahoma City.

“Mainly, I focused on adjusting to the high velocity fastballs and trying to retrieve my swing that I had in Japan.,” he said. “If I go into detail, there’s a whole bunch more adjustments. But to keep it simple, that’s pretty much what I did.”

Shelton said Tsutsugo (6-foot-1, 225 pounds) generates power through his core.

“He does a nice job staying grounded in his legs,” he said, “and then through his core, he creates a ton of torque and we saw that torque (Sunday).”

The Pirates’ only other scoring threat arose in the fourth inning against Cardinals starter Kwang Hyun Kim. After singles by Ke’Bryan Hayes, Reynolds and Colin Moran — all three coming off their bats at more than 100 mph — the Pirates had the bases loaded and no one out. Yet they scored only once on Tsutsugo’s sacrifice fly that tied it, 1-1.

The game was close enough for Tsutsugo to make a difference because starting pitcher Wil Crowe allowed only three runs in five innings — his longest outing since July 30 — and relievers Kuhl, David Bednar and winning pitcher Chris Stratton (5-0) allowed only one hit and one walk and struck out seven in four scoreless innings.

The Cardinals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third when Tommy Edman doubled and scored on Tyler O’Neill’s triple off the right-field wall. Crowe’s problems in the fifth started with pinch hitter Matt Carpenter, an 11-year veteran, fouling off six pitches and working a walk after 10. Edman followed with a home run to break the 1-1 tie.

Crowe said Carpenter’s repeated foul balls were more annoying than distracting.

“I felt like I was throwing some good pitches, and he just kept spoiling them,” he said. “You’re like, ‘Come on. If you’re gonna get a hit, get a hit. If you’re gonna miss it, miss it. Whatever.’ You’ve got to stay locked in, and I was doing that. I made some good pitches and then the last one, fastball, kind of got away from me.”

Note: Hayes left the game after seven innings with right hand discomfort. Shelton said x-rays were negative and Hayes’status is day to day.