The Pirates had multiple chances to put away the Yankees in extra innings and cap off a disappointing opening weekend with a positive result this afternoon. 

They squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the 10th inning and then, after Caleb Ferguson and Joey Wentz managed to hold the Yankees' bats scoreless, two clutch plays ultimately made the difference in a one-run victory at PNC Park. 

First, with Tommy Pham locked in a lengthy at-bat against Yankees closer Devin Williams, there was this stolen base by Jack Suwinski with one out on a changeup low and out of the zone from Williams:

At this point, the Pirates hadn't generated a run, or even a hit for that matter, since they scored two runs on four hits to take a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning. A spark was needed in hopes of simply bringing across one more run. 

Suwinski got a good lead off of second and was fortunate to have taken off on an ideal pitch, one that Yankees catcher Austin Wells had to nearly pick out of the dirt before throwing down to third. It was a risky decision, but one that ultimately paid off. 

"It's a big moment," Derek Shelton said. "He got a really good read and it ended up being a major turning point in the game."

With Suwinski 90 feet away, Pham continued to battle at the plate. He fouled off three straight pitches after the pitch Suwinski ran on made it a 3-2 count. Then, Pham managed to make contact on a 3-2 changeup down and out of the zone, sending a ball way over the head of left fielder Jasson Dominguez to send the crowd home happy for the first time this season: 

"You're talking about one of the best closers --  and we've seen Devin Williams with the Brewers -- in the game," Shelton said. "For Tommy to grind out that at-bat, I mean I think he fouled off a 3-2 changeup, a 3-2 fastball and then got another changeup that, all he's trying to do is get the ball in play, put the ball in the air, and took a really good swing at it."

The hit came at a good time for both Pham and the Pirates as a collective unit. It ended a streak of 17 straight at-bats without a hit for Pham and put an end to a streak of 24 straight at-bats without a hit by a Pirates hitter in the game. Quite a significant gap between Isiah Kiner-Falefa's RBI double in the fourth and Pham's game-winner, one he was happy to simply get a barrel on. 

“It felt great. I’ve been struggling, of course. Finally. Finally hit the ball hard, finally found barrel," Pham said. "It’s a good thing when you find barrel as a hitter.”