The ball launched off Yoshi Tsutsugo’s bat and cleared the right-center wall at PNC Park.
As he and Gregory Polanco rounded the bases, the Pirates had done something no team in baseball had done all year: Score eight runs in an inning before making an out.
“It all happened pretty quick,” Derek Shelton said. “They left some balls in the middle of the plate and we didn't miss them and we just continued to go.”
That rally was just what the Pirates needed to complete a six-run comeback to win comfortably over the Cardinals Thursday night, 11-7.
“Everybody was fired up,” Polanco said. “That was amazing.”
Trailing 7-3 going into the home half of the seventh, Ke’Bryan Hayes, who had just entered as part of a double-switch, started with a double off the wall in right. Ben Gamel followed with a walk, and then Michael Chavis lined a single to right to load the bases.
That was one of four hits the recently-promoted, and hungry, Chavis had on the night.
“We all know he can hit,” Polanco said. “He’s a good hitter, a great player... He goes out and competes.”
Bryan Reynolds chipped away at the deficit with a base hit through the left side of the infield to plate a pair. Two pitches later, he was able to correctly read a flare to right from Colin Moran, seeing it would drop in for a hit in time for him to still make it to second base.
“Really tough read,” Shelton said. “There were a lot of good baseball things that happened that inning, besides the fact that we scored eight runs.”
The runs started to pour in from there, starting with a two-run single from Wimer Difo to tie it. Then Polanco put the Pirates in front for the first time all night with a two-run double to left-center.
It had been a trying couple of days for Polanco, starting Sunday with the news that he was floated on waivers. On Wednesday, PNC Park booed him and chanted for him to be designated for assignment. The boos had been weighing on him this year, and he laid it all on the line pregame.
“I try to keep it out of my mind, even though it’s hard not to when you’re playing,” he said before the game.
A three-hit, two-double game was just what he needed. And in case you needed any proof, look at that emotion he showed on second base:
So was the celebration because of the context of the game or a reminder that he can still hit?
“It was kind of a mix [of] both,” Polanco said. “Obviously, I want to go out there and show that I can still play, I can still hit.”
Two pitches later, Tsutsugo put the Pirates up by four after starting down four runs:
That’s three pinch-hit home runs for Tsutsugo since joining the Pirates last week, putting him in a tie for second for pinch-hit homers this season.
“This is a veteran guy,” Shelton said. “Even though he hasn't played in the big leagues for a long time, he played in Japan and had a lot of success. He knows how to handle himself and how to prepare. He’s very consistent, he's very calm. He doesn't get too high [or] too low and I think he understands the situation in the game.”
With that, the Pirates overcame a deficit of at least four runs for the sixth time this season, the most for the franchise since they won seven such games in 2005.
On the doorstep of that 82nd loss and a sub-.500 season, they made sure that it didn’t happen Thursday.
“Everybody's in there focused, trying to improve their game, [trying to] help the team win every night," Moran said.
JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY
Michael Pérez talks with Mitch Keller.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Mitch Keller couldn't make it two good starts in a row, being hit early and often, allowing seven runs over his first three innings, including a pair of two-out, two run homers to Nolan Arenado and Edmundo Sosa.
The Sosa homer came on a fastball that was clocked at just 91.4 mph. On the day, his fastball averaged just 92.4 mph, the second-lowest ever in a game for him. His fastball velocity has been trending down of late, and it was already down a couple ticks compared to his rookie season:
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After setting a career-high in whiffs off the fastball (10) last weekend against the Cardinals, Keller did not get any on 20 swings Thursday.
He did bounce back later though, tossing a scoreless fourth and fifth before turning the ball over to the bullpen in the sixth. He allowed seven runs on six hits -- two of them homers -- three walks and two strikeouts.
"Just didn't finish off innings," Shelton said of his performance. "The last two innings, [his fastball] didn’t have the normal zip to it, but he actually located the ball a little bit better. He was able to get through it."
• Moran went 4-for-5 on the night, including a two-run homer.
It's been an up and down couple of weeks since Moran has been activated from the injured list after suffering a small fracture in his left wrist and hand. There are always some worry for a power hitter coming back after that type of injury.
"You're always concerned about anything that involves the hand," Shelton said. "He’s been hit on both of them this year, so that is something that is concerning. Grip strength is a big thing and sometimes it can come and go when you get hit. So you are concerned about that. As long as he's taking good swings, he's gonna impact the ball because he’s a strong guy."
Moran wasn't as concerned.
"Once it happened and once I started feeling better, I didn't put much thought into how it would hinder me," Moran said.
• Kyle Keller, Chad Kuhl, Chris Stratton and David Bednar combined for 3 2/3 nearly perfect innings, with a Tommy Edman seventh inning base hit against Kuhl being the only base runner allowed. Stratton struck out the side in the eighth, and Bednar picked up a strikeout and pitched a 1-2-3 frame on just eight pitches.
• Factoid of the night: When was the last time the Pirates were down by at least six runs and then ended up winning by at least four? August 11, 1944 against the New York Giants.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ben Gamel, LF
2. Michael Chavis, 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Wilmer Difo, 3B
6. Gregory Polanco, RF
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Michael Pérez, C
9. Mitch Keller, RHP
And for Mike Schildt's Cardinals:
1. Tommy Edman, 2B
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Dylan Carlson, RF
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Yadier Molina, C
6. Lars Nootbaar, LF
7. Edmundo Sosa, SS
8. Harrison Bader, CF
9. Miles Mikolas, RHP
THE SYSTEM
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates and Cardinals will play game two of their four-game set Friday at 7:05 p.m. Dillon Peters (0-1, 1.86) will take on J.A Happ (7-6, 5.88). I've got you covered from PNC Park.
THE CONTENT
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