Pirates Dominated By Yankees’ Bullpen In 6-3 Loss

PITTSBURGH—The Pirates fell to the New York Yankees 6-3 on Saturday night in front of a mostly packed house. After a strong outing against the Atlanta Braves last Sunday, Pirates’ starter Luis Ortiz saw his accuracy issues resurface, throwing six walks in 4.2 innings. Yankees’ starter Luke Weaver didn’t do much better, but New York’s bullpen managed to hold down the fort for him with five shutout frames.  

Recap:

Pirates’ starter Luis Ortiz allowed three runs in the first inning. Pittsburgh second baseman Ji-Hwan Bae led off the bottom of the inning with a walk, and left fielder Bryan Reynolds hit a first-pitch homer to close the gap to 3-2.

First baseman Alfonso Rivas doubled off the Clemente Wall to open the second, but the Pirates stranded him there.

Giancarlo Stanton hammered a slider to left to make it 4-2 in the third. The Pirates pulled back within a run in the bottom of the frame via small ball. Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled, Jack Suwinski grounded out to move him to third, and Endy Rodríguez lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Hayes.

Reynolds robbed Yankees’ shortstop Anthony Volpe of a home run in the fifth inning.

Aaron Judge walked and Gleyber Torres doubled with one out in the sixth. Pirates’ reliever Hunter Stratton threw a wild pitch that scored Judge, then worked a pair of groundouts to limit the damage to one run.

Thomas Hatch entered in the eighth, allowing a home run to left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera.

Clay Holmes entered in the ninth, earning his second straight save against his former team.

Key Moment:

 Luke Weaver bounced back to pitch a scoreless fourth inning. The Yankees bullpen took that momentum and ran with it, blanking the Pirates from there on out.

Star of the Game:

Reynolds, who went 1-for-4, hitting a homer himself while robbing one from Volpe.

Stat of Interest:

Yankees’ pitchers retired 21 straight batters to finish the game.

Noteworthy:

• Henry Davis went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in his first start since reinstatement from the injured list.
• Bryan Reynolds is hitting .346 with two home runs in his past seven games.
• Luis Ortiz walked six batters in 4.2 innings.

Up Next: 

The Pirates look to avoid the sweep beginning at 1:35pm Sunday. Pittsburgh has yet to announce a starter. The Yankees will send left-hander Carlos Rodon (3-5, 6.14 ERA) to the bump.