When Jorge Lopez threw a pitch too close for comfort to Andrew McCutchen’s head, the Pittsburgh Pirates icon held his bat in one hand and pointed at the Washington Nationals reliever.
As tempers flared and benches cleared Wednesday night, Oneil Cruz played the peacemaker by stepping in between McCutchen and Lopez as heated words were exchanged.
After McCutchen drew a walk to load the bases, Cruz delivered a devastating blow by crushing a grand slam to right field that sent the crowd of 8,529 at PNC Park into a frenzy and the Pirates to a 6-1 win.
Those fireworks overshadowed a strong start by Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter (1-2), who entered the game with a 7.20 ERA but allowed only two hits in seven shutout innings. Falter was efficient in throwing 57 of his 83 pitches for strikes and recording two strikeouts against one walk.
Nationals starter Mitchell Parker (2-1) struck out the first four batters he faced. The newest addition to the Pirates finally got a hit with two outs in the second inning, as Jared Triolo was activated from the 10-day injured list and singled to left. Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a single to center, and Enmanuel Valdez drew a walk to load the bases. But Parker got Henry Davis to fly out to center field to escape.
Where Davis missed on a chance at a grand slam in his first plate appearance, he got his first home run of the season in his next at-bat. With one out in the fifth, he blasted Parker’s 1-0 elevated fastball 392 feet and off the left-field foul pole to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
A Pirates baserunning gaffe led to an unusual outcome in the sixth. Cruz was on first when Tommy Pham hit a fly ball to left field. Cruz started toward second but thought the ball was caught by James Wood, so he spun around and headed back to first base. Wood threw to first, and Pham was tagged out in a play that was scored a 7-3 putout.
The Pirates padded their lead in the seventh against Lopez, when Kiner-Falefa hit a leadoff single to left, raced to third on a single to right by Valdez and scored on Davis’ broken-bat groundout to third for a 2-0 lead.
After Lopez hit Bryan Reynolds with a pitch, he threw a wild pitch near McCutchen’s head that allowed both runners to advance into scoring position. Both benches cleared when McCutchen and Lopez exchanged words, with McCutchen holding his bat and pointing at Lopez before Cruz stepped in. Home plate umpire Ron Kulpa ejected Lopez, and Eduardo Salazar walked McCutchen to load the bases.
Cruz then drilled Salazar’s first pitch, a slider low and inside, for a 385-foot line drive to right field for a grand slam and 6-0 lead.
After Caleb Ferguson tossed a scoreless eighth, the Nationals prevented the Pirates from getting their first shutout win of the season against Chase Shugart in the ninth. Dylan Crews hit a leadoff single, advanced on Luis Garcia Jr.’s walk and a Nasim Nunez groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Call.
Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports
