Pirates Fall to Mariners 6-3 on Eugenio Suárez Walkoff Homer

Mariners’ third baseman Eugenio Suárez hammered a middle-middle slider over the left field wall to walk off the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-3 in the tenth inning on Sunday.

The Pirates needed eighth-inning heroics from Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen (and the help of a wild pitch) to make it that far, but they couldn’t seal the deal in extras, dropping the game and the series to Seattle.

Mariners’ center fielder Julio Rodriguez blasted a hanging slider over the left field fence to open a 1-0 lead in the first.

Catcher Austin Hedges singled and right fielder Andrew McCutchen walked in the third. A fly out put runners at the corners, but the Pirates couldn’t draw even.

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh hit a solo shot to right to make it 2-0 in the fourth.

Center fielder Ji-Hwan Bae began the fifth with a single, moving to third on a blooper from shortstop Chris Owings. A Hedges’ sacrifice fly cut the lead to 2-1.

Mariners’ left fielder Jarred Kelenic hit an RBI double in the bottom of the frame to retake a two-run lead, 3-1.

Typical starter Roansy Contreras took over in the sixth inning, stranding a leadoff runner at second base with weak contact to the infield and a looking strikeout. Contreras then retired the side in the seventh inning.

McCutchen led off the eighth with a single, scoring on a triple from designated hitter Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds came home on a wild pitch to knot the game at three.

Bae began the ninth with a double, giving the Pirates an excellent chance to pull ahead, but a fly out and a double play left him stranded there.

Extra-Inning Heartbreak

Reynolds began the tenth inning with a single that put runners at the corners. Seattle reliever Tayler Saucedo then struck out the side to send the Pirates empty-handed to the bottom of the frame.

After two quick outs, Pittsburgh issued an intentional walk to Kelenic to secure a righty-on-righty matchup for reliever Robert Stephenson against Eugenio Suárez.

The gambit failed as the former Cincinnati Red (and longtime Pirates’ rival) called game with a towering home run.

The Pirates move to 26-26 on the season, falling to .500 for the first time since early April. They move on to face the San Francisco Giants at 5:05pm Monday, with Rich Hill slated to start as they look to secure their first series win of May in their last chance to do so.