In Pittsburgh’s series opener up north in Toronto, the Pirates and Blue Jays combined for an extra innings showdown that combined solid bullpen action with abysmal offense from both sides, until Toronto finally broke through off a two-run homer to win it.
We saw the ghost runner rule work in exactly the opposite of the way it was intended, as each team did the bare minimum to keep the game going. Finally, Davis Schneider smacked a two-run home run off of Kyle Nicolas in the bottom of the 14th inning for a walk-off win in Toronto.
It was the longest game in Major League Baseball this season, and the longest game the Pirates have participated in since August 24th, 2018.
As for the Pirates, they have only themselves to blame for this loss. A series of gaffes by multiple players forced the game first into extra innings, then further along in extras before the Pirates had exhausted almost every option in their bullpen.
They also wasted another quality start from Bailey Falter, a man who is quickly establishing a cult-like following (with myself as a founding member). The lefty went 6.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just 2 hits and striking out 5.
Unacceptable gaffes by Ji Hwan Bae, Oneil Cruz, Jared Triolo and others ended up costing this team the game.
In my mind, the most costly of these was Bae’s miss in center field. In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Pirates up 1-0, Colin Holderman was on the mound to face Daniel Vogelbach, the man he was traded for back in 2022 when the Pirates sent Vogelbach to the Mets.
Vogelbach gets a hold of a Holderman pitch and sends it deep to center field, where the outfielder Bae just can’t find it.
Being an outfielder, especially a center fielder, is probably harder than a lot of us think just watching it on tv. However, if you are a major league center fielder, you have to come away from this with an out.
Bae’s misplay leads to the runner from first scoring, and making it a 1-1 ballgame. I point to this as the worst gaffe of the bunch because this play is the reason this game goes to extra innings.
If Bae can make this catch or, at the very least, is not openly lost, George Springer likely does not reach home plate from first base. Even if Bae doesn’t make the catch but can field the ball well, it’s probably second and third with two outs.
Holderman struck out the next batter to end the inning, meaning the Blue Jays would have still had a zero on the scoreboard.
Should the Pirates have more than a single run through nine innings? Yes, but their pitching through that time frame allowed none. They should have won that game.
Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth respectively. This should have been a 1-0 win.
Part of the problem only one run was scored for the Bucs however could be attributed to the ninth inning. Oneil Cruz, to his credit, had a good eye and drew a walk to open the top of the ninth. With one out, Cruz started to attempt to steal, then pulled up and failed to make it back to first base in time to beat the tag.
That took the base runner away and with two outs, the Pirates were bounced quickly. Now I don’t believe this had any major consequences, only because if you look at the way the Pirate offense had played the rest of this game, there was no way somebody was going to actually hit and get Cruz home.
However, it is something that in a tied game in the ninth inning simply cannot happen.
And speaking of base running mistakes, Jared Triolo made one as well. Way later in the 13th inning, with Triolo as the ghost runner on second, he made the ill-advised decision to run for third with the ball hit on the left side of the infield.
Now, Bae had made a similar bad decision in the 11th, but unlike Triolo, Bae has the speed to outrun that throw. Triolo did not, and was called out easily.
That took away the assumed run that the Pirates could have scored, but in the end it really wouldn’t have mattered.
After churning through relievers, the Pirates were forced to call upon Kyle Nicolas, who entered the day with the third highest ERA on the team at 6.10.
Nicolas was able to get two outs, but he could not hold on for the third, and he surrendered the home run to Schneider to end the ballgame.
It was a game the Pirates could have secured for themselves, but we’ve heard that story before. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
I wrote back before the Detroit series that it was crucial for the Pirates to take at least 3/5 in this road trip. They now need to win the next two in Toronto for that to still happen.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but the team needs to clean up a lot while they’re still north of the border.
(Featured photo by Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
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