Here's how Lowe's heads-up baserunning turned into 2 wacky runs for Pirates

The Pirates scored the first two runs of Wednesday’s 10-4 loss to the Rockies in a fashion you just don’t see every day.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Henry Davis shot a hard ground ball toward third base that Kyle Karros fielded on a nifty diving stop. Karros tried to go the short way and get Brandon Lowe on a forceout at second, but Lowe beat the throw, scoring the first run of the game.

Now here’s where it gets funky.

Lowe blew through second base without a slide and immediately continued toward third base, causing some confusion for the Rockies’ defense. Second baseman Edouard Julien began running Lowe down before shifting his attention to Nick Gonzales, who had started off of third base and toward home.

What ensued looked for a while like a normal pickle. Julien threw to the catcher Hunter Goodman, then Goodman tossed to Karros. Karros then chased Gonzales all the way to the plate, tossing back to Julien to make the tag and the out.

Not so fast.

Home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus signaled that Gonzales’ run scored because pitcher Jose Quintana obstructed Gonzales. Quintana was trying to shorten the distance Gonzales could run, but a throw never came to him, and Gonzales bumped into Quintana on his final trip home.

Quintana escaped the jam, forcing a groundout from Oneil Cruz in the next at-bat. And fortunately for the Rockies, their offense made up for the blunder and earned a win, thanks in large part to a huge night from Mickey Moniak on his 28th birthday.

But Lowe’s baserunning could be a blueprint for others moving forward. In fact, we’ve seen something similar in the past. Several teams in 2023 began running through second base to try and break up the force play, stealing a run in bases-loaded or first-and-third situations. After all, heading into the bag at a full sprint is faster than motoring down for a slide.

Then, MLB implemented a slight rule change that allowed umpires to deem the runner out for abandonment of second base. However, Lowe seemingly circumvented that amendment, darting immediately for third base after clearing second.

Lowe has been extremely valuable for the Pirates since they acquired him in an offseason trade, smashing 10 home runs with a .907 OPS. The veteran can now also add a wacky, heads-up play to his resume.