PITTSBURGH _ Kevin Newman has produced some seriously fun and exciting walkoff wins, ones featuring terrific hits and plays worth watching over and over again.
Suffice to say, what happened Tuesday was not one of those moments, though it counted just the same.
Maybe more given some of the turbulence the Pirates have experienced through 40 games.
Newman helped the Pirates nab another walkoff win, this time 5-4 over the White Sox at PNC park, after Chicago pitcher Jimmy Cordero tried to flip a comebacker home, and catcher Yasmani Grandal couldn't handle it.
That allowed Jason Martin, who was pinch-running for Gregory Polanco, to slide home safely.
The win helped the Pirates improve to 14-26 on the season while completing their second 20-game stretch at 10-10, markedly better than 4-16 over their first 20.
Down 4-0 heading to the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates mounted another late rally, which included back-to-back doubles from Newman and Jacob Stallings to start. That cut Chicago's lead to 4-3 before Erik Gonzalez tied it with a run-scoring single.
For Gonzalez, it extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Gonzalez reached third after a pair of wild pitches from reliever Evan Marshall. However, White Sox manager Rick Renteria brought in left-hander Ross Detwiler to pitch to Colin Moran, and Moran grounded out to first to end the inning.
The Pirates bullpen endured a hiccup from Dovydas Neverauskas but overall handled itself well, allowing the offense to kick into gear after a slow start to the game.
Among several encouraging things Tuesday was starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, who went four innings, allowing three hits, no runs and striking out five. Musgrove's breaking stuff was sharp, and he used it on three of his five strikeouts.
After some early command issues, Musgrove was also able to consistently hit Stallings' mitt.
The outing was likely cut short because Musgrove is still working back from a stint on the 10-day injured list due to right triceps and right foot issues.
This was definitely an encouraging start, something Musgrove can take into the offseason and build upon, and it was evident from the first inning that he had pretty good stuff. After issuing a leadoff walk to shortstop Tim Anderson, Musgrove struck out third baseman Yoan Moncada and Grandal on curveballs.
The outing was short _ just 64 pitches _ thought it's likely related to Musgrove building back up after significant time down as opposed to a comebacker off the back of the left calf that came courtesy of Moncada in the third.
The Pirates also have to like what they saw from Ke'Bryan Hayes during a fifth-inning rally, the youngster hitting another ball hard and motoring around the bases for his second triple in six games.
Bell got things started with a two-out double the other way, his first extra-base hit in eight games. Hayes followed by putting a slider from Cease off the wall in right and scored on Newman's hard-hit grounder to third, the infield single scoring Hayes.
The White Sox picked up an insurance run off Chris Stratton in the eighth, on a double from left fielder Eloy Jimenez and an error charged to Polanco. That proved extra costly when the Pirates scored two in the bottom half.
The Pirates also saw some solid outfield defense in this one.
Frazier and Bryan Reynolds both made excellent catches in the outfield, although Frazier's _ on designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion in the second inning _ was tougher than it should have been because Frazier took an awful route.
That lack of (recent) outfield experience bit Frazier in the fifth inning as well, on a double from second baseman Nick Madrigal. Frazier was flat, and the ball sailed past him. But he's also spent much of the past two years in the infield, so some perspective is probably required.
It's not for Neverauskas, who had another rough outing, even though he had not allowed a run in four straight coming in.
But after relieving Musgrove, Neverauskas gave up the double to Madrigal, a single to Anderson and a single to Moncada, scoring a run. Grandal then whacked a 1-1 fastball from Neverauskas into the right-field stands, the two-run homer pushing Chicago in front, 3-0.
For Neverauskas, it was the fourth home run he's allowed in 15 innings this season.
The final positive thing to come out of the loss occurred in center field, where Reynolds hardly looked out of place. He played there some last year and comported himself well Wednesday.
Reynolds also kept up his strong throwing. After nailing Madrigal trying to score in the fifth, he's now tied for the National League lead in outfield assists with five, four of those coming at home plate.
He might owe Stallings a pop for this one, too, as Stallings caught the ball and reached quickly to his left to apply the tag on Madrigal, which ultimately withstood a White Sox challenge.
Frazier extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the sixth inning.
