Bucs absorb Yanks' late surge, rally in 10th for win in Bronx

NEW YORK -- The Pirates scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning and defeated the Yankees, 5-3, in Game 1 of a day/night doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

With the score tied at 3 and Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz on the mound, Pittsburgh had runners on first and third with one out when Jared Triolo singled to left field, scoring Nick Gonzales. Jake Mangum followed and singled to left-center field, bringing in Billy Cook.

It was a game that saw Yankees right-hander Gerrit Cole dominate early in his 11th start since returning from Tommy John surgery. For 4 2/3 innings, Cole had a perfect game going.

“He didn’t look rusty to me,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “In a few innings, his stuff was sharp. It was like he had everything rolling today, and had command of it, too.”

But the Gonzales and Gonzalez boys -- Nick and Jacob -- bit Cole with the long ball. Cole started the fifth frame by striking out Esmerlyn Valdez and Ryan O’Hearn. Suddenly, the Pirates were able to get to Cole moments later. Gonzales followed O’Hearn and broke up Cole’s perfect game with a single to left. Gonzalez then came to the plate and homered over the right-field wall to take a 2-0 lead.

“I think we put some swings on some pitches, and we just got him,” Gonzales said. “I think I swung early. That was my game plan, honestly."

Two innings later, Gonzales gave Pittsburgh a three-run cushion against Cole by hitting a solo shot over the right-center-field wall.

The duo of Gonzales and Gonzalez has been working well since Gonzalez joined the club in a trade that sent left-hander Jaden Woods and a Draft pick to the White Sox on July 11. Since joining the Pirates the next day, Gonzalez is slashing .313/.313/.750, while Gonzales is hitting .370/.370/.741. That’s a pretty good combination, and they seem to play off each other well. From now on, call them S and Z, because of the different spellings of their last names.

“Jacob is a great hitter. It’s fun to watch that guy swing. He gets on base,” Gonzales said about Gonzalez. “I think it’s kind of funny, especially when we are batting next to each other playing short and third, right next to each other or right up the middle. It’s kind of fun.”

But reliever Carmen Mlodzinski couldn’t hold the lead, as Yankees first baseman Ben Rice tied the score at 3 in the seventh by hitting a three-run homer.

The Pirates would overcome the homer and win the game in extra innings. Pittsburgh is 19-10 in Interleague games this season.

“Offensively, we got a lot of stuff going. One through nine, we make a lot of stuff happen, and we have a lot of power to do it, too,” Gonzales said.

Lost in the game was that right-hander Mitch Keller had a start that was much-needed, pitching five scoreless innings for his seventh no-decision of the season.

Keller was having a rough go of it prior to Wednesday. Keller was 2-6 with a 7.03 ERA (44 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings) in his last 11 outings.

With 12 days off, Keller seemed to figure some things out on the mound. He had 15 swings and misses during the game against New York.

“He threw the ball extremely well. I thought his stuff was sharp. Everything looked really good,” Kelly said. “He looked more aggressive and finished some pitches. His breaking ball looked like he had a lot of bite on it and he was throwing strikes.”

Keller was happy with his outing, but said there is still a lot of work to do.

“The pitches felt a lot more dialed in. I’m turning in the right direction. I haven’t had it all figured out yet.”