Crack of bat, lightning bolt cap Pirates’ 5-game sweep
One late-inning rally wasn’t enough for the Pirates.
Trailing and down to their final out on two occasions, the Pirates managed a 7-6 victory over visiting Milwaukee that gave them the first five-game sweep in the majors in nearly a dozen years.
With two men on and two outs in the 10th inning and rain turning into a downpour, Josh Bell made solid contact on a pitch from Dan Jennings. The crack of the bat was followed closely by a bolt of lightning.
The ball got past center fielder Lorenzo Cain and bounced all the way to the wall, scoring Gregory Polanco easily from third. The relay throw beat Colin Moran to the plate but skipped off the pitcher’s mound and through the legs of catcher Erik Kratz, giving Pittsburgh an improbable victory.
Bell had gained a tactical advantage when earlier in the at-bat, Jennings had a slider slip out of his hand that nearly went for a wild pitch. With the tying run on third, Bell didn’t think Jennings would throw it again.
“I was just dead-red heater,” Bell said.
An inning earlier, Milwaukee’s Corey Knebel blew a save chance for the third time this season. After loading the bases with no outs, Knebel got Jordy Mercer to ground into a double play that scored one run, then pinch-hitter David Freese hit a two-out triple to tie the game.
The Pirates’ five-game sweep is the first in the majors since August 18-21, 2006, when the Yankees did it to Boston.
Milwaukee’s Brett Phillips drove in four runs, including one with a single in the 10th.