Roansy Contreras Takes No-Hitter Into Sixth In 8-1 Win Over Dodgers

PITTSBURGH — A day after seeing their seven-game winning streak come to an end, Roansy Contreras and the Pittsburgh Pirates found themselves back in the win column after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

Contreras (3-1) took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, but it ended on an Austin Wynns leadoff single. The sixth inning also marked the first time the Pirates’ right-hander had to deal with a runner in scoring position. 

Contreras was able to wiggle out of a first and third jam by getting James Outman to fly out and preserve the Pirates’ lead.

In all, Contreras blanked the Dodgers (13-12) across six innings while only allowing a pair of singles. He walked two and struck out five. It was the first time in his career that Contreras went at least six innings without allowing a run. 

To celebrate the signing of his contract extension, Bryan Reynolds plated the game’s first run with a single to left field. Scoring on the play was Ji Hwan Bae, who singled and stole his eighth bag of the year.

Bae eventually had two more singles and again stole a base, giving him five hits and four steals over his last two games. Bae became the first Pirates’ player with steals in back-to-back team games since Starling Marte in 2013.

Andrew McCutchen followed Reynolds with a bloop-single into right field to score Ke’Bryan Hayes and put the Pirates up 2-0 in the fifth. 

Jason Delay and Carlos Santana each extended their hitting streaks to five games with singles against Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin. Santana also added his second steal in his last three games.

Delay added an insurance run for the Pirates (17-8) in the bottom of the sixth with an infield single, his second hit of the game. Two innings later, he plated two more with a double down the left field line to put Pittsburgh ahead 8-0.

Delay finished the game with three hits, his third three-hit game of the season and set a new career mark with three RBIs.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh, Rodolfo Castro plated a pair with an opposite-field single. Another insurance run came the Pirates’ way when after a Pirates’ challenge, it was ruled that Wynns blocked home plate. Bae was credited with an RBI-single and pinch runner Tucupita Marcano scored.

Gonsolin made his season debut for the Dodgers after activating him off the injured list. He threw 3.2 scoreless innings, allowed two hits, walked three and struck out one before being lifted in favor of Phil Bickford (0-1)

After 13 seasons in the minor leagues, Drew Maggi pinch hit for McCutchen in the bottom of the eighth inning for his first career big league at-bat. The 33-year-old went down swinging but received a healthy round of applause. At 33 years and 345 days old, he is the ninth-oldest player in the expansion era (since 1961) to make his Major League debut, excluding players who began their careers in a foreign league.

The Dodgers lone run came on a Freddie Freeman solo shot in the eighth off of Dauri Moreta. Freeman’s home run was one of only four hits for the Dodgers to the Pirates’ 12.

Moreta came back for the ninth and struck out the side in order to finish off the game.

The Pirates will look to take the series against the Dodgers Thursday afternoon. The pitching matchup is a good one. Mitch Keller (2-0, 3.64 ERA) will be on the mound for the Pirates against left-hander Julio Urias (3-2, 3.33 ERA).