Walk-off winners after bonkers night, Bucs remain hopeful of WC run

PITTSBURGH – The Pirates are in survival mode. As September begins, they’ll take wins any way they can. Even if that meant blowing a six-run lead after a night of historic offense.

“Eventful is a good way to put it,” manager Don Kelly said.

Pittsburgh almost dealt with a catastrophic loss, one that would’ve virtually ended its postseason hopes in the form of morale. On a wacky night that included a duel of aces going sour, a nine-run inning with no extra-base hits and a strong bullpen faltering, the Pirates walked it off in a fitting way: a throwing error.

Rafael Flores Jr. walked it off with an infield error from Osleivis Basabe for the Pirates’ 13-12 win on Tuesday night at PNC Park. The victory was Pittsburgh’s third straight – its first three-game winning streak since right before the All-Star break – and a positive start to a six-game homestand in which the Pirates play two of the worst teams in baseball in the Giants and Angels.

“It's awesome. I mean, it's kind of what you live for,” Flores said. “You want to play games like that. I'm assuming that's what playoffs are like. You know, just tight-knit games and team-effort wins, and it's kind of just preparing us to get there.”

Coming off its fourth series win in its past five, Pittsburgh seemed to be continuing its surge. With Logan Webb and Paul Skenes on the mound, a low-scoring affair would’ve made more sense. Instead, the outcome marked the first time since 1950, and the third all time, in which both teams scored 12-plus runs in a game started by All-Stars that season.

Skenes fell into trouble in the second inning, allowing five runs. But Webb’s outing became a nightmare in the third inning. In that frame, the Pirates tallied nine runs on nine hits with no extra-base hits. Kelly described it as the best offensive inning for Pittsburgh in “a long time” when it came to the pass-the-baton mentality.

Skenes, who really appreciated the run support, described it as a “suffocation” of the other team, adding that’s simply “what we do.” The inning was historic, tying for the most in an inning without an extra-base hit in the past 20 years.

“Incredible,” Brandon Lowe, who tallied four of the team’s 19 hits on the day, said. “I don’t think I’ve seen that many singles and walks, and to be able to put that kind of production up on the board without some sort of extra-base hit.”

“Everybody contributed in that inning to help us score nine runs,” Kelly added. “And I think that when we're going good, that's how we have to play baseball.”

Of course, as has been the case all year for the Pirates, sealing the deal didn’t come easily. The Giants sporadically clawed away at the deficit until a five-run eighth inning gave Pittsburgh a scare. Evan Sisk walked three batters in the eighth, and Luke Weaver allowed all three plus two more to score.

The Pirates’ bullpen has been exceptional of late, becoming a real strength for the team. But with so many walks -- eight overall on the day for Skenes and the unit combined -- it’s hard to win many baseball games, let alone this time of year.

Captain clutch Mason Montgomery kept the game tied in the ninth despite some hard contact, and he gave Pittsburgh an opportunity to walk it off. The Pirates did just that, as Lowe hit a leadoff single and scored on Flores’ grounder that Basabe threw past Rafael Devers at first.

The win puts the Pirates five games back of the final National League Wild Card spot with plenty of time to go, but plenty of teams ahead of them. Lowe, the nine-year veteran, has “seen weirder things happen.” He has seen incredible streaks, and he has seen teams implode.

Pittsburgh has certainly dug itself a hole. But if it keeps finding ways to survive, it might just dig its way out.

“You look at where we are and the possibilities of what’s ahead of us, we have to take care of business on our end,” Lowe said. “We’ll see what happens. But first we have to take care of business on our side of things. Starting the homestand right and set us up for a chance to win a series tomorrow.”