Morning Rundown: Pirates come from behind and win on walk-off single
Nick Gonzales wins it in the ninth inning for the Pirates
Before a sellout crowd in Pittsburgh, the home team came back from multiple deficits to eventually win on a walk-off single by Nick Gonzales in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Philadelphia Phillies scored three runs off Martin Perez in the top of the first, only to see the Pirates make those runs back up in the home half of the frame.
They eventually scored the final four runs of the game, two of which were in the ninth inning, defeating the Phillies and pushing their record to over .500 at 49-48.
Perez struggled again, allowing six earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched. That brings his season ERA up to 5.61. Kyle Nicolas, Dennis Santana, Quinn Priester, Colin Holderman, and Carmen Mlodzinski all held the Phillies to one run the rest of the way.
Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds, and Oneil Cruz—the first three hitters of the lineup—all finished with multiple hits and Nick Gonzales drove in the winning run in the ninth.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the Pirates’ opted to not have Paul Skenes or Mitch Keller pitch this weekend, so potentially being able to steal this series without having to use their top two pitchers would be huge.
Luis Ortiz will pitch for the Pirates on Saturday, facing Cristopher Sanchez.
The Pirates promoted two of their top performing players from their Greensboro affiliate, Hunter Barco and Nick Cimillo.
Barco was their second round pick in 2022. In 62 innings pitched with Greensboro, he had posted a 3.34 ERA with 77 strikeouts.
Drafted out of Rutgers in the 16th round, Cimillo came off the development list early in the season and has since been on a tear, slugging 17 home runs in 52 games for the Grasshoppers.
RHP Kade McClure retired
LHP Hunter Barco assigned to Altoona Curve from Greensboro Grasshoppers
C Nick Cimillo assigned to Altoona Curve from Greensboro Grasshoppers
RHP Scott Randall assigned to Greensboro Grasshoppers from Altoona Curve
LHP Anthony Solometo assigned to FCL Pirates from Altoona Curve
Bradenton Marauders placed OF Eddy Rodriguez on the 60-day injured list
Bradenton Marauders activated 3B Garret Forrester from the 7-day injured list
Indianapolis Indians sent RHP Brad Case on a rehab assignment to FCL Pirates
Greensboro Grasshoppers activated OF Lonnie White Jr. from the 7-day injured list
Pittsburgh Pirates sent LHP Ryan Borucki on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP Hunter Stratton on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
Altoona Curve placed LHP Tyler Samaniego on the 7-day injured list
FCL Pirates activated RHP David Matoma from the 7-day injured list
Indianapolis Indians activated RHP Aaron Shortridge from the 60-day injured list
Indianapolis Indians activated RHP Mike Burrows from the 60-day inured list
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Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 120.5 mph - Double
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 113.5 mph - Double
Malcom Nunez - IND - 110 mph - Home Run
Bryan Reynolds - 107.9 mph - Single
Nick Gonzales - 104.4 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 98 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98 mph
Ben Heller - IND - 97.3 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 97.1 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 97.1 mph
Most Whiffs
Po-Yu Chen - ALT - 14
Dominic Perachi - GBO - 14
Martin Perez - PIT - 8
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 6
Jaden Woods - ALT - 5
Indianapolis Indians - 8 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 1
Top Hitter - Malcom Nunez: 3-4, 3 R, RBI, BB, 2 2B, Hr
Top Pitcher - Isaac Mattson: 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K
Altoona Curve - 0 vs Somerset Patriots - 2
Top Hitter - Charles McAdoo: 1-4
Top Pitcher - Po-Yu Chen: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Hickory Crawdads - 4
Top Hitter - Termarr Johnson: 2-5, 2B
Top Pitcher - Julian Bosnic: IP, H, 2 K
Bradenton Marauders - Suspended
FCL Pirates - 6 vs FCL Orioles - 0
Top Hitter - Estuar Suero: 1-2, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB
Top Pitcher - Zander Mueth: 5 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K
Last night showed that guys like Joe and Taylor can be very valuable bench pieces. Palacios can be too. The point is that adding one impact bat outfielder puts guys like that in better positions to succeed than full time starting roles
Time to switch Perez and QP’s roles. At least until Falter or Jones comes back.
Pirates are in thick of playoff push and can’t afford to showcase a veteran for a possible trade at expense of a victory.