ATLANTA — It wasn’t a walkoff, although it’s doubtful Kevin Newman is counting.
Shoot, the Pirates shortstop might be too busy keeping track of Adam Frazier’s hits, which has been a tall task these days. The same for logging the important performances from the Pirates bullpen.
The Pirates earned a 6-4 victory over the Braves at Truist Park on Thursday for a multitude of reasons, not solely Newman’s single in the 10th inning, although that is what pushed Pittsburgh in front for good. Gregory Polanco added a sacrifice fly for good measure, as the Pirates improved to 18-25 on the season.
They won Thursday because their bullpen was terrific down the stretch, retiring 15 of the final 16 Braves hitters after a sixth-inning home run. Richard Rodriguez, so dominant all season, wound up working the final two innings to earn the win.
Meanwhile, Adam Frazier had four hits for the second time in the past four games, and Jacob Stallings and Bryan Reynolds each hit home runs in the victory.
Overall, it was a quality win that had eluded the Pirates in St. Louis, during a two-game series sweep, and one that comes at an important time as Tyler Anderson takes the ball on Friday with a chance to potentially build on this one.
Pittsburgh opened the 10th inning with three consecutive singles off Braves reliever Jacob Webb. Newman lined the first he saw, a fastball, into center field for the go-ahead run.
After the Pirates and Braves traded homers early on, and with Pittsburgh chasing a one-run deficit in the middle innings, Reynolds made it a 3-3 game with his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot to start the sixth.
It was an excellent piece of hitting by Reynolds, too. He got an outside fastball and drove it 420 feet to straightaway center, which is exactly what you want to do in that situation.
The tie score lasted until the bottom half of the inning, when Reynolds’ fellow Vanderbilt product, shortstop Dansby Swanson, did something similar off Pirates starter Wil Crowe. In winning a nine-pitch battle, Swanson got a full-count fastball at the top of the zone and Swanson pulled it over the left-field fence.
Swanson’s homer brought manager Derek Shelton out of the dugout, ending Crowe’s outing. The rookie actually pitched decently well, striking out seven and keeping the top of Atlanta’s lineup in check — the top four went 1 for 7 with four strikeouts against Crowe — but a pair of home runs hurt.
Give the Pirates credit, though, as they answered back in the top half of the seventh. Ben Gamel singled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Adam Frazier’s third hit of the game, a single he lined the opposite way into left-center.
Continuing his terrific season, the second baseman’s three-hit game against the Braves upped his season average to .339. Meanwhile, he’s hitting .362 in May, has hits in 18 of his past 20 and multiple hits in eight of 12.
While the Pirates certainly come pre-packaged with plenty of frustration, Frazier’s offense continues to be a tremendously positive development.
Home runs have often told the story for Atlanta’s Drew Smyly this season. He allowed nine over his first four starts, and the Braves lost all four. He allowed none over his past two, both Atlanta wins.
Because of that, it felt like what Stallings did in the top of the first inning on Thursday might be big. Playing his first game after missing the Cardinals series because of a left quad contusion, Stallings knocked a hanging, 1-2 curveball over the fence in left-center for a two-run homer.
It was Stallings’ fourth of the year, which moved him into a tie with Reynolds, Colin Moran, Polanco and Phillip Evans for the team lead. It also created a tie with Yadier Molina of the Cardinals and Will Smith of the Dodgers for extra-base hits by a National League catcher. All three have 14.
While Moran has been out with a left groin strain and the Pirates have certainly lacked offensive production, Stallings’ recent uptick at the plate has been warmly welcomed. He came into Thursday’s game with an OPS of .978 over his last 17 games dating back to April 23.
The Pirates’ lead, however, did not last long. After Crowe handled the top of the Braves order in the first, retiring the side in order and striking out right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. and first baseman Freddie Freeman, catcher William Contreras tagged Crowe for a three-run homer in the second inning.
Third baseman Austin Riley and shortstop Dansby Swanson set the table with singles before Contreras went down and got a sinker at the bottom of the strike zone, driving it out to left for a three-run shot that pushed the Braves in front, 3-2.
Crowe came into this one with a 4.35 ERA that was neither great nor terrible, but one promising thing with him is that he had largely been able to avoid allowing home runs. The two the Braves hit matched the total in Crowe’s first four starts combined.
