The Pittsburgh Pirates win 3-2 on a Nick Yorke walkoff double in the 9th inning and the best part is they did it on a day when nothing went clean. No home runs. Starter didn’t get deep. Bullpen had to bail them out. Still won. Baltimore had every opportunity to steal this game and the Pirates just didn’t let them.
That’s a different kind of baseball than Pittsburgh fans have been watching for a while.
Pittsburgh Pirates Win Because the Depth Guys Showed Up When It Mattered
Mlodzinski started and gave them 4.2 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, and 5 strikeouts before they pulled him in the 5th. Not a dominant outing. Not a disaster either. He kept Baltimore to 2 runs, which turned out to be enough runway for the lineup to work with.
Hunter Barco came in from the pen and was genuinely excellent. He threw 2.1 innings without allowing a hit, kept the deficit right where it was, and handed the ball to Dennis Santana in the 8th. Santana threw a clean inning and got the win. The bullpen piece of this game was put together on the fly and it held.
What the Pirates needed after Mlodzinski was innings and zeros. That’s what they got. That does not always happen and it is worth acknowledging when a pen gives you that.
Nick Yorke Punished the Intentional Walk
Baltimore led 2-1 going into the 8th. Bryan Reynolds started doing what Reynolds has been doing all series, and the Pirates tied it up. Then the game went to the 9th and the Pirates were facing Ryan Helsley.
Reynolds led off with a double off the left field wall. One out later, Helsley intentionally walked Ryan O’Hearn to set up a force and get to the next batter. Nick Yorke stepped in, took a slider down and inside, and hit it over Dylan Beavers in left for the walkoff. Game over. Pirates win.
Intentional walks to get to a backup hitter almost never work out the way you draw them up. Helsley found that out. Yorke went 1-for-1 with an RBI on the day, same as Jake Mangum, two guys who are not your stars doing exactly what depth pieces are supposed to do.
The Pittsburgh Pirates Win Without the Long Ball and That Is a Real Thing Now
Baltimore held Pete Alonso to 0-for-4 and Gunnar Henderson to 1-for-5, which tells you how quiet their offense was. The Pirates did not need to match power with power because they were not trying to. Pittsburgh went 8 hits deep, all singles and doubles, and spread those hits across enough innings to manufacture 3 runs against a bullpen that was supposed to shut this down.
Reynolds was the engine throughout the day, 2-for-5 with a double, scored twice, and was the reason the 9th inning was even possible. Spencer Horwitz chipped in an RBI double earlier. The lineup went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, which is not good, but when Mangum and Yorke each come up once and deliver, the box score evens out.
This is two straight wins over Baltimore in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have won this series already. Sunday’s game is the sweep and Braxton Ashcraft gets the ball. Go take it.
