Pirates power to win
ended Wednesday — the Pirates were down to their last out, trailing by one, and rallied to extend the game into the bottom of the ninth. In the earlier game, Jordy Mercer’s two-run single put the Pirates ahead before the Braves stormed back to win in the ninth. In the late game, Jose Osuna’s two-run single knotted the score at 55.
The only thing missing in the Tuesday game, which included a lengthy rain, an ejection, a false evacuation alarm and ended at 1:52 a.m. Wednesday, was extra innings. This time, the Braves did not walk off. Ngoepe drove in McCutchen to pull ahead in extras, Josh Harrison knocked in two more and David Freese, Osuna and Jordy Mercer smacked back-to-back-to-back homers.
The Pirates hadn’t hit three homers in a row since Sept. 13, 2013, against the ChicagoCubs.
Adam Frazier reached base six times and raised his average to .370. He was the first Pirates leadoff man with at least three walks and two hits, including a home run,since Barry Bonds did it May 28, 1988. That sentence is loaded with conditionals, sure, but it remains elite company.
Frazier’s outing — a homer, a single, three walks, an intentional walk and a stolen base — was another notch in the belt of a player who rose to the majors last season as an unheralded prospect. Since then, he has done one thing better than any other batter in baseball — hit with two strikes. While the league average after two strikes is a .173 batting average, Frazier has hit .325 — 40 for 123 with 14 walks.
“The numbers right now are big,” Hurdle said Tuesday before the game. “Where they end up, time will tell. But I think he’s going to hit, because of the approach, the makeup, the fight in the box. He’s just getting to do it on a bigger stage now so he’s getting more recognition for it.”
Teheran had Frazier cornered with two outs in the second.With runners on second and third, he got a firstpitch slider called a strike, and Frazier fouled off a fastball. League average on 0-2 counts is a paltry .395 OPS. CatcherTyler Flowers set up inside and signaled for a fastball at the belt. Teheran hit his spot, but Frazier launched it 401 feet for his secondhomer this season.
Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams held the Braves scoreless for five innings but departed in the sixth, charged with three earned runs. His strong start was spoiled by right-hander Juan Nicasio’s inability to get a third out.
Williams wiggled out of jams in the third and fourth, but could not escape again in the sixth. He was lifted after serving up three consecutive singles.
Nicasio, who had thrown 13 consecutive scoreless appearances, initially held the inherited runners at the corners with back-to-back popfly outs. Rio Ruiz halved the deficit with an RBI single, and No. 8 hitter Jace Peterson put Atlanta ahead with a two-run double over center fielder Danny Ortiz’s head. Nicasio was responsible for one of the four runs in the sixth.
The Pirates stranded two runners on base in the seventh and eighth, but made amends in the ninth. Trailing by two, a product of pinch-hitter Danny Santana’s two-out ground-rule double in the eighth, Ngoepe and Frazier singled, and reliever Jose Ramirez walked Freese with two outs to load the bases. Osuna stroked a fastball through the left side for the tying single.