Pirates Salvage Series With Extra-Innings Win Over Mets; Game-Saving Relay in 10th
After Ryan O’Hearn and Henry Davis put them ahead by two in the top of the 10th, a game-saving relay home in the bottom of the inning gave the Pittsburgh Pirates their first victory of the season with a 4-3 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon.
Scoring Plays
Top 1st, 1-0 Pirates: Ryan O’Hearn singled to left field off Mets rookie starter Nolan McLean to give them the first lead of the game for the third straight day.
Bottom 2nd, 1-1: Marcus Semien delivered an RBI single off Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski to even the score.
Top 3rd, 2-1 Pirates: Brandon Lowe connected on his third home run in as many games, a 390-foot solo shot to right off McLean to put the Pirates (1-2) back out in front.
Bottom 5th, 2-2: Following a Francisco Lindor triple, Juan Soto single to right off Mlodzinski.
Top 10th, 4-2 Pirates: Ryan O’Hearn singled up the middle off Richard Lovelady (1-1), plating automatic runner Bryan Reynolds from second base. Later in the inning, Henry Davis delivered a two-out, RBI single to pad the lead.
Bottom 10th: 4-3, Pirates: With two on and nobody out, Juan Soto double to left-center off José Urquidy. Automatic runner Francisco Alvarez scored from second to bring New York (2-1) within one.
Key Moment
With two on and nobody out Juan Soto split the left-center gap against Jose Urquidy. Francisco Alvarez scored from second but a relay from center fielder Oneil Cruz to shortstop Jared Triolo to catcher Henry Davis prevented Francisco Lindor from scoring the tying run.
After recording the second out, Urquidy got Jorge Polanco to fly out to the right field wall with a runner on third base to end the game for his second-career save.
Player of the Game
Ryan O’Hearn finished the game 3 for 5 with a pair of RBI. It was his first three-hit game of the season and first since last season on Sep. 29 against the Chicago White Sox.
Stat to Know
Brandon Lowe joined Shawon Dunston (1997) and Reggie Sanders (2003) as the only players to hit at least three home runs through their first three games with the Pirates. Lowe also became the first National League player to reach three home runs this season.
Notable Performances
- Carmen Mlodzinski: 4.1 innings, six hits, two runs, no walks, eight strikeouts, 85 pitches/55 strikes
- Brandon Lowe: 2 for 3, one home run, one double, two walks, one RBI, one run
- Ryan O’Hearn: 3 for 5, two RBI
Noteworthy
- Carmen Mlodzinski’s eight strikeouts were a career-high. His previous career-high was six strikeouts against the St. Louis Cardinals last year on April 7.
- Ryan O’Hearn extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He entered play tied with the Philadelphia Phillies’ Alec Bohm for the longest active hit streak in baseball.
- The Pirates were 4 for 39 with runners in scoring position and left 30 runners on base prior to getting two RBI singles in the top of the 10th.
- Dennis Santana (1-0) got the win for the Pirates.
Up Next
The Pirates will head to Cincinnati for the start of a three-game series with the Reds on Monday night. RHP Braxton Ashcraft will be on the mound for Pittsburgh and RHP Chase Burns will start for the Reds. First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh+, FS1/93.7 The Fan.
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