WASHINGTON -- The talk of the Pirates over the past several weeks have heavily focused on the youth of the organization making their way to Pittsburgh to begin the process of building the next core of players that hope to contend.
But what many of us were reminded of in the Pirates' 8-7 win over the Nationals is there are already a few players in Pittsburgh that are capable of playing on a championship team. On Wednesday at Nationals Park, we were all reminded of just how good Bryan Reynolds is, as he became the sixth player in Pirates history to hit three home runs in one game off three different pitchers -- just 10 days after Jack Suwinski did the same on Father's Day.
"I think Bryan Reynolds carried us to a win tonight," Derek Shelton said. "We jumped on his shoulders. It was huge for us."
Reynolds had an immediate impact, connecting for his first homer in the first inning after Ke'Bryan Hayes led off the game with a single, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead:
The lead -- given the way the team has played during this road trip -- predictably evaporated before the Pirates stepped back up to the plate in the second inning. Mitch Keller allowed two runs in the first and another in the second to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
Daniel Vogelbach put the Pirates back in the game with a solo homer in the fourth to tie the game, 3-3. And after the Pirates took a 4-3 lead in bizarre fashion in the fifth inning (much, much more on that in a bit), the Nationals quickly answered with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-4 lead, knocking Keller from the game.
Before the game spiraled out of control and the Pirates hurled their way toward an 0-6 road trip, Chase De Jong stopped the bleeding in the fifth inning that kept the deficit at two runs, then helped right the ship with a scoreless sixth.
Then Reynolds breathed life into the Pirates' cause with this solo homer to pull within a run:
With the way the Pirates have played throughout this road trip, any close game was not going to go their way. It was going to take something beyond anything bizarre or lucky. It was going to take something special to get this team ahead and stay ahead.
Following a game where the Pirates went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position in Tuesday night's 3-1 loss, Reynolds did just as Shelton said -- put the team on his back in the seventh. Michael Perez led off the inning with a single, then Hoy Park walked. After Hayes struck out swinging, Reynolds fell behind Kyle Finnegan 1-2, but connected on a 97-mph fastball to give the Pirates the lead and secure the first three-homer game of his major-league career:
When we talked to Reynolds after the game, he didn't sound too excited about that achievement:
"It’s just kind of how it happened," Reynolds said. "What the pitch made me do and things like that. Not trying to steer it or anything."
But go back and watch that third homer again. That smile while rounding the bases says more than anything we heard in the clubhouse.
The Nationals got one back on a solo home run by Yadiel Hernandez in the Washington seventh, but Tyler Beede logged two critical innings that kept the lead intact for Yerry De Los Santos to fill in for an injured David Bednar to record his first professional save.
Reynolds coming through with a three-homer, six-RBI game, when this team struggled to put together any complete performance on this road trip, that's exactly what they needed. The Pirates needed their star to come through in that game that could have easily gotten out of hand in a hurry.
That's what great players do. And the Pirates have a great one in Reynolds. Prior to Wednesday, Reynolds had a slash line of .323/.374/.531 with five homers and 13 RBIs in June. His performance has not only quieted the doubts of a slow start in April and May, but given the Pirates a much needed stalwart at the top of the lineup.
Now, about that fifth inning ...
GETTY
Umpires confer following the fifth inning Wednesday in Washington.
• In a 3-3 game, Jack Suwinski singled, then moved to third base when Hoy Park doubled to give the Pirates with runners on second and third with one out. The second pitch of Hayes' at-bat ended in absolute chaos that resulted in the inning coming to an end with the Pirates on top, 4-3:
Here's the description of the play on MLB.com:
"Umpire reviewed (rules check), call on field was upheld: Ke'Bryan Hayes lines into a double play, first baseman Josh Bell to third baseman Ehire Adrianza. Jack Suwinski scores. Hoy Park out at second."
What makes the play even more crazy is Hayes was credited with an RBI on the play. The reason? Nothing prevented Hayes from getting an RBI. There wasn't an error and Suwinski scored prior to Park being tagged for the third out.
Shelton helped explain the fiasco after the game:
Per Rule 5.09(c)(4), the defense has the right to appeal and help the umpire recognize a "fourth out." The Pirates initially thought Bell did not catch the ball, but once it was clear and obvious he did, it put the attention on which out was recorded as the third out, which was the tag applied to Park -- even though Ehire Adrianza stepped on third base.
Now, if the Nationals stayed on the field and Dave Martinez came out and appealed that Suwinski didn't tag up after Bell caught the liner from Hayes, the umpires can confer and give the Nationals that out instead of the tag on Park, which would have negated the run and it would have remained a 3-3 game. The rule gives the defense the advantage in that regard.
However, once the Nationals left the field, the right to appeal is removed. Suwinski was not the third out and he scored before the third out was recorded. Therefore, the run counts.
"The umpires, to their credit, Jeremie Rehak tried to stop Steve Cishek three times, and I know that because I was on the field," Shelton explained. "They came off the field, so when Dave Martinez came out and asked about the appeal and they came back on [the field], the rule states there has to be an infielder on the field for you to go back and do the 'fourth out' appeal rule, which is a rare one."
I asked Shelton how often that rule is at the forefront of his mind. That's not only shrewd, but keen awareness to pounce on a play seldom witnessed.
"The 'fourth out' rule enters my mind all the time," Shelton said. "We had a situation last year against the Giants at home on a walkoff, and they argued something very similar on an appeal. Now, this was touching a base, but the Giants have four veteran infielders and they all stayed on the field. So, as soon as anything like that happens -- that’s why we always tell our pitcher to stay on that side [of the foul line] because if something does come back, especially with replay, you want to be able to go back and do it."
• With Bednar unavailable again, Shelton went with Beede for two innings and De Los Santos for the ninth. While Reynolds' three-homer performance and the crazy fifth inning will understandably grab the attention from this game, it cannot go unsaid how much the Pirates needed those two to step up in a close game and finish it off.
"We’ve played well enough on this road trip to win games and haven’t finished them," Shelton said. "We were able to finish the game today. And I give our guys credit. With Bednar not being available, the bullpen stepped up at the end in some different roles. It was nice to see."
• Minor-league home run leader Matt Gorski was injured in Wednesday night's game for Class AA Altoona. Gorski entered the game with 23 home runs combined between high Class A Greensboro and Altoona with a good bit of his power going to dead center.
In the third inning Wednesday, Gorski hit a ball off the center field wall that turned into a triple. But he slowed up and hobbled into third base, went down to the ground and lay there for a couple of minutes. A cart had to be brought onto the field to carry him off, with Gorski unable to put any weight on his left leg.
Gorski was seen walking out of the clubhouse after the game using one crutch and limping. But that was a good sign, given how severe things could have turned out.
"We're looking at the left quad," Altoona manager Kieran Mattison told our Cory Giger after the game. "Not sure of the severity yet. He's getting checked out in the morning. It's unfortunate, but it's part of the game. Looking for somebody else to step up."
Mattison agreed that it was encouraging Gorski could at least walk out after the game.
"For me that's a good sign, because when he first went down, you don't know if it's a knee or him being able to walk out on his own might," Mattison said. "And to see him standing and greeting his teammates after the game, to me is a big sign that it's … it's an injury, but it may not be as long as we thought originally when he went down."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Ben Gamel (hamstring), 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Zach Thompson (forearm), LHP Dillon Peters (back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Kevin Newman (groin), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb) OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Roberto Pérez (hamstring, out for season)
• COVID injured list: INF/OF Tucupita Marcano, RHP Duane Underwood Jr.
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Bligh Madris, RF
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Josh VanMeter, 1B
6. Oneil Cruz, SS
7. Jack Suwinski, LF
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Hoy Park, 2B
And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:
1. César Hernández, 2B
2. Juan Soto, RF
3. Josh Bell, 1B
4. Nelson Cruz, DH
5. Luis García, SS
6. Keibert Ruiz, C
7. Yadiel Hernandez, LF
8. Ehire Adrianza, 3B
9. Victor Robles, CF
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates come back home to begin a four-game series against the Brewers, with the first game Thursday at 7:05 p.m. Matching righties JT Brubaker (1-7, 4.14) and Adrian Houser (4-8, 4.50) square off. DK and Alex Stumpf will have you covered.
THE CONTENT
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