PITTSBURGH _ Garrett Cooper almost did it again.
With the Miami Marlins locked in a tie ballgame late against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cooper turned on a slider and sent it over the center-field wall at PNC Park for a go-ahead home run.
But the cushion from Cooper's seventh-inning home run was only temporary, as the Pirates capped a three-run ninth-inning with a Bryan Reynolds walk-off, two-run single against Jose Urena to escape with a 6-5 victory.
Elias Diaz led off the decisive ninth inning with a solo home run. Kevin Kramer walked and Adam Frazier followed with a double to put runners on second and third and set up Reynolds' game-winner.
It spoiled a terrific offensive night for Cooper and Starlin Castro, who combined for seven hits _ including four doubles and two home runs _ and drove in all five runs for the Marlins (49-89).
They hit back-to-back two-out doubles in the first to open scoring. Castro and Cooper each proceeded to hit a two-run homer in the fifth before Cooper's go-ahead home run in the seventh.
The past two days have been a welcomed power return for Cooper, who had hit just one home run over his past 42 games before the Marlins arrived in Pittsburgh.
As for Castro, Wednesday was the latest stellar offensive performance down the stretch this season. The 29-year-old infielder is hitting .337 since July 23. Wednesday was Castro's third four-hit game in that span _ and the first of his career in which all four went for extra bases (three doubles, one home run).
Only three other players in Marlins history have had a game with four extra-base hits: Gary Sheffield (1994), Miguel Cabrera (2003 and 2005) and Christian Yelich (2017).
The duo's performance also temporarily preserved a quality start for rookie Robert Dugger.
Dugger, obtained as part of the Dee Gordon trade in December 2017, gave up just three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks in six innings.
He got himself out of a few jams, too.
The 24-year-old right-hander induced a pair of double plays in the first and second. He left the Pirates (61-78) empty handed after they loaded the bases with one out in the third by getting Jose Osuna to flyout to shallow right field and Melky Cabrera to hit a line drive to shortstop Miguel Rojas.
Dugger has held opponents to just five runs (two earned) over 13 innings in his last two starts.
Adam Conley and Ryne Stanek threw scoreless seventh and eighth innings before Urena gave up the game.
