Pirates Walked Off by Giants 8-7 Despite Bryan Reynolds’ 5 RBIs

The Pittsburgh Pirates had everything in the bag after a five-run comeback until Thairo Estrada’s walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Giants an 8-7 victory Sunday at Oracle Park.

The Pirates went 2-8 on its three-city road trip to Baltimore, Phoenix and San Francisco.

With the score tied 6-6, Bryan Reynolds started the ninth inning with his third hit on the day for the Pirates. On a hit and run, Reynolds advanced to second on Michael Chavis’ groundout.

With runners on first and second after a Ben Gamel walk, all hell broke loose after an infield single from Rodolfo Castro.

Evan Longoria handled a dribbler down the third base line and then airmailed the throw to first base, allowing Reynolds to score the go-ahead run.

However, the Giants answered with Estrada’s homer off Wil Crowe in the bottom of the ninth.

The Pirates found themselves in a familiar situation, down by five runs and not capitalizing with runners in scoring position early in the game.

In the top of the fifth, Reynolds smacked a double into the left-center field gap scoring Jason Delay and Kevin Newman and pulling the Pirates within 5-2.

After a flyout by Chavis, Reynolds advanced to third base with just out and Gamel coming to the plate.

Gamel did his job and hit the ball to the second baseman allowing Reynolds to score. The Pirates’ three-run inning chipped away at the Giants’ lead.

Fast forward to the seventh inning, the same situation started to formulate with Delay drawing a walk and Kevin Newman getting on base with a single.

Reynolds had the opportunity to change his recent fortunes with one swing, and that’s exactly what he did.

On a 1-1 count, the slumping Reynolds blasted a 442-foot three-run homer to put the Pirates ahead 6-5. Reynolds’ homer fell one foot short off the longest by a Pirates’ hitter this year, 443 feet by Jack Suwinski on June 25 against the Rays at St. Petersburg.

Shortstop Oneil Cruz and Newman, the second baseman, botched an easy pop-up by Brandon Crawford in the bottom of the seventh with runners on the corners and two outs. It was ruled a double , and the Giants were gifted a run, tying it up at 6-6.

Starting Pitcher

Zach Thompson (3-9, 5.94 ERA) just can’t put things together. For the third straight time, Thompson was not able to get past the fifth inning, and he threw 90 pitches to even get through four.

A Tommy La Stella double and a Lamont Wade Jr. three-run homer gave the Giants a 4-0 lead in the second inning.

In that second inning, Thompson faced six batters, and half of them hit the ball extremely hard, with Wade Jr.’s homer topping the list at 103.6 mph.

Thompson’s final line was not pretty, with four innings pitched, seven hits, five earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Pirates’ Hitting Leaders

Reynolds- 3 for 4 with a double, homer, and five RBIs

Delay- 2 for 2 with a walk

Newman- 2 for 3 with a walk and a hit by pitch

Fun Fact

Reynolds’ five RBIs was one shy of his career high of six, which came during his three-run homer game on June 29, 2022, at Washington.

He is the first Pittsburgh Pirates player since Josh Bell in 2019 to have multiple games of five or more RBIs in a single season.