Pittsburgh Pirates Rally in the 9th to Defeat the Dodgers 6-5

It was a rollercoaster final two innings of the night, but in the end the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5

Following a frustrating series loss in San Diego to kick off their road trip, the Pittsburgh Pirates started a three-game series at Dodger Stadium on Monday night. Even though the Dodgers entered the game with the best record in baseball, the Pirates entered the game 2-1 against Los Angeles on the season.

Earlier this season the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to take two of three from the Dodgers at PNC Park. This came despite the Pirates entering the season having lost 18 games in a row against the Dodgers.

Monday night the team’s success against the Dodgers continued. Following a thrilling 6-5 victory that included a 9th inning rally, the Pirates improved to 3-1 against the Dodgers on the season and 20-27 overall.

Pittsburgh Pirates ride home runs to an early lead

The game was scoreless going to the 2nd inning, but this would not be the case for long. After Josh VanMeter walked to start the inning and Jack Suwinski reached on a bloop single, Tucupita Marcano launched a 3-run home run off of Walker Buehler.

Marcano’s missile was the 1st home run of his MLB career. The home run, which left his bat at 102 MPH, gave the Pirates an early 3-0 lead. Marcano also made a strong running catch to rob Chris Taylor of a hit to start the bottom of the 7th inning.

With one out in the top of the 3rd inning Bryan Reynolds would blast a solo home run. The 7th home run of the season by Reynolds made the score 4-0 Pirates. Believe it or not, when a team hits home runs it tends to be a positive for their offense.

Strong start from Zach Thompson

Even with struggling in his last outing, Zach Thompson turned in a strong month of May for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished the month off with a strong start on Monday night.

Facing a powerful Dodger lineup, Thompson allowed just 2 runs in 5.2 innings pitched. Both runs that Thompson allowed were solo home runs. He allowed a total of 4 hits, walking a batter and striking out 4.

For the month of May Thompson allowed 7 runs on 3 home runs, 20 hits, 6 walks and 19 strikeouts in 25.2 innings pitched. Hopefully, this was the start of Thompson turning a corner and getting his season headed in the correct direction.

Poor defense burns the Pirates in the 8th inning

Dillon Peters entered the game in relief of Thompson. While Peters danced around some raindrops, he struck out a pair in 1.1 innings pitched. The lone run Peters allowed was a solo home run by Edwin Rios.

David Bednar then took over for the Pirates in the 8th inning looking for the six-out saved. With Trea Turner on third base and one out Bednar got a massive strikeout. After getting ahead in the count 0-2 against Justin Turner it appeared that Bednar would escape the jam, but Turner lined a doubled into the left-center field gap to tie the game. Chris Taylor then blooped a ball into no man’s land in shallow right field to give the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

The most frustrating part of the inning is that Trea Turner should not have been on base. Marcano made a strong throw from the outfield that appeared to have Turner gunned down. However, Diego Castillo failed to catch the ball and the Pirates were unable to get the out.

This was not the first defensive miscue of the night for the Pirates, just the first one that hurt them. In the 2nd inning Rodolfo Castro committed a fielding error at shortstop, but Thompson was able to pick him up. Castro also failed to field a ball that went for a base hit in the 7th inning.

Pirates rally in the 9th

Dodger closer Craig Kimbrel entered the night in a bit of a funk. He had allowed runs on back-to-back outings, and Monday night that became three consecutive outings as the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to get to him for a run.

Making up for his defensive miscue the previous half inning, Castillo put together a strong at-bat that ended in a one-out walk. Michael Perez, in dire need of a base hit, then got just that. Perez lined the ball to right field and a good slide by Castillo helped him beat the throw by Mookie Betts. This snapped an 0-for-19 streak for Perez.

With Michael Chavis pinch running for Perez, Cal Mitchell hit a ball off the glove of Freddie Freeman at first base. The rare Freeman error allowed Chavis to motor home from second base to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead.

After throwing 27 pitches in the 8th inning Bednar returned to the mound in the bottom of the 9th. After getting a strikeout to start the inning, Bednar allowed a ground rule double to Betts and walked Freeman.

Bednar then battled back. He got Trea Turner to fly out, before striking out Will Smith to end the game. Bednar put the team on his back, throwing a career high 50 pitches on his way to picking up the victory. He will now enjoy a well deserved break for the rest of the road trip.

As of this writing the Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to announce a starting pitcher for game two on Tuesday night. Lefty Julio Urías (2.49 ERA, 4.39 FIP) is slated to start for the Dodgers. First pitch from Dodgers Stadium is scheduled for 10:10 PM ET.