PITTSBURGH — There is surely a sect of Pirates fans looking for their team to lose right now, hoping for the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2022.
Whether one subscribes to that line of thinking or not, the players, obviously, do not.
On Monday evening, they opened their three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, one of just three teams in baseball with a worse record than the Pirates. The Diamondbacks took a 5-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning, but the Pirates battled back.
The death knell was a bases-loaded, RBI groundout from third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, giving them a 6-5 lead. Right-hander David Bednar entered in the ninth to close it out, recording the second save of his career just two days after his first.
While Hayes delivered the final run in clutch time, the Pirates' rally came in bits and pieces before that. After falling behind by four runs in the fifth, left fielder Ben Gamel roped a triple to the notch in left center, then scored on an RBI groundout to the shortstop by center fielder Bryan Reynolds.
In the seventh, they really pounced. Pinch hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo led it off with a line drive home run to the first row of seats in right field. He now has six hits with the Pirates, three home runs, two doubles and a single.
Two batters later, Hayes walked, then scored on another triple, this time from Reynolds. With one out, first baseman Colin Moran bounced a ball to third base, scoring Reynolds and actually getting to first thanks to an error. With that, the game was tied.
Right-hander Wil Crowe put together a solid start, right up until it all fell apart for him. He allowed a second-inning home run to Daulton Varsho,but there's little shame in that right now. Varsho has an OPS over 1.000 since the all-star break. Beyond that, Crowe got through the first four innings allowing four hits and a walk, but giving up just the one run.
In the fifth, it came crashing down, though. Crowe permitted a leadoff double to the opposing pitcher, Humberto Mejia. Two batters later, Ketel Marte singled him in. Crowe got to two outs, then hit Carson Kelly with a pitch. David Peralta then bounced a ground ball down the third base line that skipped off the base. Ke'Bryan Hayes didn't recognize that it was fair and didn't get anybody out. The next batter, Christian Walker, ripped a three-run single off the wall in right-center.
After a promising start to his outing, Crowe was saddled with five runs on eight hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings.
Luckily for he and the Pirates, the bullpen was lockdown amid what has been a tumultuous season. Lefty Chasen Shreve relieved Crowe, closed out the fifth, then had a nearly flawless sixth. Right-hander Chad Kuhl, the newly-converted reliever, walked one but was otherwise untouched in the seventh.
Left-hander Anthony Banda then struck out the side, and Bednar, the Mars native, took care of his own business to secure the save at PNC Park, his first in his hometown ballpark.
Altogether, it was a gritty win, the type that manager Derek Shelton wants to see from his team, hoping they don't give up in any games or on the season as a whole. For potential future draft position, that may hurt. For this Pirates team, it's enough for some encouragement as the season winds down.
