Disastrous Ninth Inning Dooms Pirates Against Yankees on Clemente Day

PITTSBURGH — With David Bednar unavailable, Colin Holderman was handed the ninth inning with a two-run lead in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ favor.

Holderman (0-3) struggled with wildness, and a defensive miscue on a potential game-ending double play handed the New York Yankees a 7-5 win over the Pirates.

Recap

Holderman’s ninth inning began with back-to-back singles from DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge and a walk to Gleyber Torres loaded the bases with nobody out.

Holderman got cleanup hitter Giancarlo Stanton to pop out in foul territory for the first out, but he issued a bases-loaded walk to Estevan Florial after being ahead in the count 0-2.

The next batter, Anthony Volpe, grounded one to shortstop Liover Peguero which looked like a game- ending double play. However, second baseman Ji Hwan Bae skipped a throw to first baseman Alfonso Rivas, who was brought into the game as a defensive sub, and Rivas couldn’t make the pick. On the play, the Yankees took a 6-5 lead.

New York (75-73) added on one more on an Oswaldo Cabrera base hit before the inning mercifully came to an end.

For the Pirates, Ke’Bryan Hayes recorded three hits in the loss.

Hayes’ third hit of the night was his biggest. With two outs in the sixth inning, Hayes bounced one up the middle and the ball got under the glove of Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres, allowing two runs to score, making the score 5-3.

The Pirates (69-79) tied the game at 3-all in the bottom of the sixth inning. Bae hit a 100.6 mph liner which hit Yankees’ reliever Anthony Misiewicz in the head/face area. The ball landed in right field and Miguel Andujar scored from second.

Misiewicz was down on the ground being attended to by the Yankees’ medical staff before he walked with assistance to a medical cart and was taken off the field.

Misiewicz is alert and oriented. He was assessed by Pirates’ team doctors and was transported to Allegheny General Hospital, where he will undergo further testing.

Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-1 lead after two innings on a Jack Suwinski sacrifice fly in the first and a Bryan Reynolds single in the second.

The Pirates had to rally from down 3-2 after LeMahieu and Judge both had RBI singles in the sixth.

Johan Oviedo grinded through five innings, worked around some traffic and held the Yankees to one run in 5.0 innings pitched. The right-hander allowed four hits, walked five and struck out seven batters on 96 pitches/54 strikes.

Former Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole was the starter for the Yankees and matched Oviedo’s 5.0 innings. Cole wasn’t quite as sharp as he normally is, but only allowed a pair of runs to score. He allowed six hits, walked three and punched out four.

Key Moment 

The Pirates defensive miscue in the ninth inning capped off a disastrous ninth inning en route to the loss

Star of the Game

No. 21 — Ke’Bryan Hayes.

Stat to Know

For the first time in his 11-year career, Cole walked three batters in the first inning. This was the 298th start he’s made.

Noteworthy

• Friday was Roberto Clemente Day across Major League Baseball. All Pirates’ players and coaches in uniform wore No. 21.
• In addition to Hayes, Peguero had a multi-hit performance (2 for 4).
• This was the first time Cole pitched at PNC Park as a visitor. He spent 2013-17 with the Pirates and made 64 starts in Pittsburgh.
• Prior to the start of the game, Henry Davis was reinstated from the 10 day injured list and Vinny Capra was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Up Next

The Pirates and Yankees will continue their weekend series on Saturday night. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher. First pitch: 6:35.