Pittsburgh Pirates Rally to Defeat Milwaukee Brewers in 10 Innings

The Pittsburgh Pirates overcame being no hit into the 7th inning to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers in 10 innings on Tuesday night

Following a 6-2 loss against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates entered the second game of their three-game series looking to even the series at a game each. Led by rookie right-handed starting pitcher Max Kranick the Pirates found themselves in an early hole and for much of the night things looked bleak.

Despite being no-hit into the 7th inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to rally for an 8-5 victory  in 10 innings over the Brewers. With the win the Pirates snapped Milwaukee’s streak of 50 consecutive victories in games that the Brewers led by at least 4 runs.

With the win the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 41-66 on the season. Even though the Pirates are having a poor season this was one of the biggest feel good wins of the season for the Bucs. Even in bad seasons, wins like this one will always feel good.

This game marked the first time since 1977 that the Pittsburgh Pirates came back to win a game after being no hit in the 7th inning or later. On that day in 1977 the Lumber Company rallied to defeat the Montreal Expos. As Tim Kurkjian likes to say, every time you go to the ballpark you may see something you have never, or at least haven’t for a long time, seen before.

Max Kranick labors through 4 innings… but flashes good stuff

Making his 5th career MLB start Kranick needed 33 pitches to get through the 1st. In this inning, Kranick allowed a run and stranded the bases loaded. While Kranick was able to pitch a 1-2-3 inning on just 13 pitches in the 2nd inning, the rest of the night was laborious.

In 4 innings of work Kranick allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, a home run and 4 strikeouts. Kranick struggled with the fastball command in his start, but still flashed the plus stuff that has the Pittsburgh Pirates high on him.

Kranick averaged 13 swings-and-misses in the start. This was some of the best swing-and-miss stuff that Kranick was had in his 5 starts this season. His fastball sat in the high-90’s and had good movement. The big issue for Kranick was that he needed 82 pitches to get through his 4 innings of work.

While it may be as a reliever, Kranick has the stuff to be a quality MLB pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Down the stretch this season the Pirates will continue to give Kranick opportunity to prove if he has a spot in the starting rotation moving forward or not.

Big 7th inning gives the Pittsburgh Pirates the lead

Entering the 7th inning the Pirates had not recorded a hit. This was due to Milwaukee starter Adrian Houser keeping the Pirate offense at bay throughout his outing.

Houser pitched 6.1 innings for the Brewers and did not allow a hit. With a runner on first and one out in the 7th inning, Craig Counsell lifted Houser for lefty Daniel Norris. At this point things started to go south for the Brewers.

Norris allowed back-to-back hits to Gregory Polanco and Kevin Newman, ending the combined no-hit bid, before walking Michael Perez. At this point the Pirates had the bases loaded with just one out, trailing 4-1.

Following the walk to Perez, Norris was lifted for John Curtiss. The struggles of Norris cost the Brewers their no-hit bid, as well as closing out the final line on Houser. While Houser did walk 5 batters, he allowed just the 1 run that Norris failed to strand with 4 strikeouts in 6.1 innings of no-hit ball.

Inheriting a mess, Curtiss was facing a pinch hitting Bryan Reynolds with the bases loaded and one out. Reynolds hit a sharp ground ball at shortstop Willy Adames who twice booted the ball for an error. Hoy Park then ripped a double down the right field line to empty the bases, giving the Pirates a 5-4 lead.

On the night Park was 1-for-2 with a walk and his 3-run double, which gave Park his first 3 career RBI. In two starts since joining the Pirate roster Hoy is 2-for-8 with a pair of doubles and a walk. After acquiring Hoy in the Clay Holmes trade, there is no reason for Hoy to not receive regular at-bats for the Pirates down the stretch.

Bullpen gives the lead back

In the bottom of the 7th inning Chasen Shreve took the mound for the Pirates with the team now leading 5-4. Shreve retired two of the three batters he faced before being lifted for righty Chris Stratton.

With a runner on first and two outs, Stratton got into a battle with Milwaukee outfielder Avisaíl García. On the 7th pitch of the at-bat García ripped a double into the left-center gap. This double scored Adames from first base and tied the game 5.

After allowing another runner to reach base, Stratton was able to record the final out of the 7th inning. On the season Stratton has been extremely reliable for the Pirates and Tuesday night was one of the few times he failed to hold a lead when asked to do so.

Pirates waste golden opportunity in the 8th

With the game tied at 5 Counsell summoned lefty Angel Perdomo in the top of the 8th inning. Leading off the inning Ben Gamel reached on a drag bunt, putting the ex-Brewer at 1-for-2 with a pair of walks on the night. Following a John Nogowski single the Pirates had runners on the corners with no one out. At this point things looked promising for the Pirates, but the wheels would quickly fall off the wagon.

Perdomo then struck out Polanco, who had previously not been retired on the night, giving him his required three batters faced before Counsell lifted him for Miguel Sánchez. Sánchez started his outing by getting Newman to pop out to shallow right field keeping Gamel at third base. Perez then grounded out to end the inning.

This was not the first time in the game that the Pirates wasted a golden opportunity to score. Polanco walked to start the 5th inning, stole second base and then advanced to third base on a throwing error. Despite having Polanco on third with no one out the Pirates failed to score in the 5th inning. Thankfully, the wasted opportunities to score in the 5th and 8th innings did not come back to bite the Pirates.

Gregory Polanco plays hero

Despite striking out with runners on the corners and no one out in the 8th inning, Polanco still played hero for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. It start in the bottom of the 9th inning when Polanco robbed Eduardo Escobar of what would have been a walk off home run to send the game to the 10th inning.

Following Polanco’s incredible grab, he stepped to the plate with a runner on third base and two outs in the 10th inning. Polanco would reach on an infield hit to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. He would later score on a 2-run single by Reynolds that made the score 8-5 Pirates.

In the victory Polanco was 2-for-4 with two walks and two stolen bases. He also drove in the winning run and robbed Escobar and the Brewers of a walk off home run. Since returning from the IL Polanco has been one of the best hitters for the Pirates. Hopefully, Polanco will continue to finish the season strong.

After the Pirates took the lead in the top of the 10th inning, David Bednar slammed the door shut in the bottom half of the inning. After the Pittsburgh native, with an assist to Polanco, retired the Brewers in order in the bottom of the 9th to push the game to extra innings, Bednar did the same in the bottom of the 10th to slam the door shut on an 8-5 Pirate victory. Bednar retired all 6 batters he faced striking out 2 of them on his way to earning the victory.

What’s next?

The third and final game of the series will be played on Wednesday afternoon. Looking to capture a series victory the Pittsburgh Pirates will send lefty Steven Brault (3.38 ERA, 3.92 FIP in 2020) to the mound for his first start of the 2021 season. Freddy Peralta (2.17 ERA, 3.12 FIP), one of Milwaukee’s three aces, is slated to take the mound for the Brewers. First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 2:10 PM ET.