Pirates secure second straight walk-off win to take series from Orioles

It didn't take extra innings this time, but the Pirates sure have a flair for the dramatic. That was evident in their 3-2 walk-off victory -- their second in as many days -- to take two of three from the Orioles at PNC Park Sunday afternoon. 

A day after Oneil Cruz lined a game-winning single into right field to lead the team to a 5-4 triumph in 11 innings Saturday, timely ninth-inning hitting and some patience at the plate was rewarded with a little luck that came in the form of a defensive miscue by the Orioles. 

Facing one of the league's top setup men in Yennier Cano with a 2-1 deficit in hand, the middle of the Pirates' order was tasked with sparking the offense. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jack Suwinski led off with back-to-back singles before Connor Joe followed with a seven-pitch at-bat that concluded with a walk to load the bases. Rowdy Tellez grounded into a fielder's choice for the first out. Then, this happened: 

Edward Olivares hit a bouncing ground ball to the left of the second base bag. Gunnar Henderson fielded it on the run, tagged the bag for the second out, got to his feet and delivered a dart to first base. With Tellez going into second standing, Henderson’s throw sailed wide of first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, allowing the tying run to score, and went out of play to plate the game-winning run. 

"You can’t blame Gunnar," Brandon Hyde told reporters on the Baltimore side. "Not many people get to that ball -- a chopper over the middle. Tough play, makes a great play. Just kind of rushed, tried to hurry the throw a little bit."

"As soon as the ball passed the pitcher, I knew the shortstop had a chance of catching that ball and that's when I started going even faster to first base because I knew it was gonna be a close play," Olivares said via interpreter and assistant coach Stephen Morales. "It is beautiful, the results the last couple days. It's an example of the team playing together and playing good baseball." 

With Sunday's win, the Pirates are now out to their first 8-2 start in six years. They've won three consecutive series, including this one against arguably one of the top teams, not just in the American League, but in all of baseball. 

"They just keep playing," Derek Shelton said of his team, which has also claimed back-to-back walk-off wins against the same team for the first time since August 2022. "Cano’s an elite back-end guy, and the at-bats we had -- Connor Joe’s at-bat to walk, Jack had a good swing, Ke’ hits a bullet to start the inning. Overall, this was a good baseball game. The two plays (Jorge) Mateo and Gunnar made in the seventh on the balls that Hayes and Reynolds hit -- and even the play he made at the end of the game. That’s a heck of a play. There was some good baseball being played today.”

The Pirates, who scored their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Henry Davis in the fifth, finished with a 7-6 hit advantage and relied on two-hit performances from Olivares and Hayes. 

But while they struggled with their run production prior to the ninth, pitching was once again a strength. 

Marco Gonzales, making his second start in a Pirates uniform and first in front of the home crowd, limited the Orioles to just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts in six stellar innings. The lone runs he allowed came on three straight fourth-inning hits, a spree that started with a leadoff single by Adley Rutschman. Ryan Mountcastle, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles, drove in Rutschman with one of those doubles before a single by Anthony Santander made it 2-0. 

"I feel like we just got away from our execution a little bit. Some pitches leaked over the plate. They capitalized," Gonzales said. "But I was pumped that we just held them to two and was able to put up a couple zeroes after that. That was huge. And then even when we had a runner on third that (fifth) inning, just being able to end with a strikeout and get some momentum back in the dugout. I knew, just to keep us in the ballgame, I knew we'd swing eventually at some point. We just had to keep it close, and we came through."

Gonzales didn't walk a batter and threw 53 of his 77 pitches for strikes, relying on an even mix that included 23 cutters, 21 fastballs and 19 sinkers. He frequently worked ahead of hitters and induced weak contact to get outs. 

"I was looking forward to today, not only to have my home opener for Pittsburgh and PNC Park, but just to get the series W," Gonzales said. "I think it was huge to keep the momentum going for this club. To win that way and walk it off was exciting."

Gonzales' performance now makes it four straight games in which Pirates starters have thrown six or more innings. Over the last four days, Gonzales has combined with Martin Perez, Jared Jones and Bailey Falter to allow six runs on 18 hits with three walks and 18 strikeouts in 24 2/3 innings. 

“Marco was good, Bailey was good yesterday. Both guys did a really good job of keeping a really good lineup off the barrel," Shelton said. "I think Mountcastle was the one that hurt Marco a little bit today but, overall, he did a really good job with the execution of the fastball.”

Roansy Contreras and Jose Hernandez combined to throw three scoreless innings in relief of Gonzales. Contreras was up around 96 mph with his fastball and averaged 95.3 through 1 2/3 innings. He threw eight of 11 pitches for strikes and didn't allow a hit. 

“Very encouraging. The velocity was up to 96. He came into a big spot in a 2-1 game and went right after guys," Shelton said. "I thought he was really good.”

Hernandez rejoined the team after being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis to replace Ryan Borucki, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with left triceps inflammation. Hernandez tossed a combined two scoreless innings in two appearances during his first stint this season, recording the first save of his big-league career on March 28 in Miami. This time around, Hernandez allowed one hit and struck out a pair in 1 1/3 innings. 

“He had a 6 o’clock flight, got delayed in Detroit and came in and got the win," Shelton said. "There’s not a lot that fazes this kid. We’re talking about a Rule 5 pick that was here all year last year and went through some ups and downs but the one thing I can say about him is he’s always prepared and he’s not scared.”