Gonzales rewards Pirates with walkoff to cap comeback against Giants

When the Pirates broke from spring training in Bradenton, Fla., Derek Shelton informed Nick Gonzales that his season would begin in Class AAA Indianapolis. This is nothing new to baseball, but that brought some motivation forward for the former first-round pick. Maybe that conversation resonated with Gonzales through his time tearing up the International League and through his first couple of weeks back in Pittsburgh.

In his 11th game after that call back up to the Pirates, Gonzales delivered a walkoff single on the first pitch of the 10th inning to cement a come-from-behind effort in the Pirates' 7-6 win over the Giants Tuesday at PNC Park. Gonzales' hit came after the Pirates shelled Giants reliever Nick Jackson and All-Star closer Camilo Doval for four runs in the ninth to send the game to the extra frame.

"He just said to continue doing what I was doing," Gonzales recalled about that conversation with Shelton a couple of months ago. "Obviously in spring training some of the stuff I was working on was showing up. Flat through the zone, that stuff was showing. But I just needed some more reps and obviously still do."

His best rep from Tuesday came on a low-and-away changeup from Erik Miller to begin the 10th. Gonzales kept his bat evened through the zone and rolled it back up the middle at 98.2 mph. It skid into center field and allowed for pinch-runner Michael A. Taylor to score from second base without a throw home.

"I think it's extremely rewarding because of the fact that -- here's a guy that we sat down at the end of spring training and told him he wasn't going to make the club and his first comment was, 'what do I need to do and how do I need to do it?'" Shelton said. "He kind of knew the answer because he had been working on it all spring. But to be able to ask that question in a sit-down meeting in Bradenton and then take it and go to Indy and do that, I think that's something that stands out about the character of the kid."

Gonzales has provided a spark to the Pirates since his call-up. He is batting .282 with a .310 on-base percentage and has driven in nine runs in 11 games. It's a continuation of those answers he found while in Indianapolis. Though he has not played a game in Class AAA since May 8, he is actively second in the International League in batting average behind teammate Ji-Hwan Bae, who earned his call-up Tuesday and provided a spark in the bottom of the order.

Entering the ninth trailing 6-2, the Pirates chipped away at Jackson and Doval and plated their four runs on just three hits. Gonzales grounded out on the first pitch of the inning, but Jack Suwinski walked, Yasmani Grandal doubled and Jared Triolo walked to load the bases as Doval entered. Bae pulled a single to right field to score Suwinski to make it 6-3. Andrew McCutchen grounded a ball sharply to Marco Luciano at shortstop, but Luciano had trouble fielding it off of a wonky hop and could not make a play. Grandal scored on that to bring the deficit to 6-4. Bryan Reynolds then chopped to Luciano, who could only get McCutchen out at second, which allowed Triolo to score and cut it to 6-5. 

It was then Oneil Cruz's turn:

This double to right tied the game at 6 and capped a 3-for-5 day for the shortstop. Cruz made up for an error on a fly ball to shallow left field in the first inning, which allowed the Giants to score two runs off of Martin Perez. Cruz added a single in the first inning and a double in the third.

Cruz's three hits topped on the Statcast charts for exit velocity. His single in the first inning traveled at 120.4 mph, which was the hardest ball hit by a major leaguer this season to that point. His double in the third was measured at 116.3 mph. His double in the ninth was posted at 121.5 mph, which gives him the top two measured exit velocities in Major League Baseball this season.

“I think it had to do with the first fly ball that I missed at short," Cruz said. "I was really pissed off when I went to hit, and I think that’s part of why I hit it so hard.”

Regardless of Cruz's mindset about making up for that first-inning error, Shelton commended Cruz's ability to wash away that blunder as another sign of maturity and growth.

"He stayed locked in," Shelton said. "We had a play in the first we should have made. I think if you ask Oneil he's going to tell you he should have made it. The thing about it is I think we're seeing Oneil continuing to get better, continuing to mature because he did not let it affect him the rest of the game. His at-bats continued to be good, they continued to be solid. He ended up getting the big hit to tie it there. Just proud of him because of the fact that he stayed with it."

The Pirates (23-26) have scored seven or more runs in two of their last four games. They have scored five or more runs in five of their last 10 games. They are 5-0 in those instances of the latter. The Pirates improved to 14-0 overall when logging at least 10 hits in a game. They are the only unbeaten team in Major League baseball in such games.

Tuesday's game marked the sixth time since 2000 the Pirates won after trailing by four or more runs in the ninth inning or later. It is the first victory since July 12, 2008 in their 12-11 win over the Cardinals.

Shelton called upon David Bednar to pitch the 10th, and the closer kept starting runner Heliot Ramos on the bases with a 1-2-3 effort. Bednar induced a groundout to move Ramos to third, he struck out pinch-hitter Lamont Wade Jr., and he got pinch-hitter Patrick Bailey to fly out to Bae in center to end the threat.

In April, Bednar posted a 13.50 ERA by allowing 12 earned runs in eight innings. In May, Bednar has posted a 2.89 ERA by allowing three earned runs in 9 1/3 innings.

"Just been feeling a lot more in the zone lately and just being more on-time and being more in the zone with all three (pitches) and especially my fastball," Bednar said. "That's when I'm good, when I can throw strikes with that, and when I'm able to get ahead of guys with any, all of them. Just keeping my foot on the gas."