Pirates rally in 9th, but walk-off blast sinks them in extras

ST. LOUIS -- Down two in the ninth inning and looking to rekindle a sputtering offense, the Pirates were willing to endure a few bruises to force runners along the basepaths.

After a leadoff single by Nick Gonzales, Konnor Griffin and Bryan Reynolds were each hit by a pitch to load the bases ahead of a double-play grounder from Marcell Ozuna that scored a run, before a base hit flipped into left field by pinch-hitter Spencer Horwitz tied the game.

Whatever stung in the ninth, however, was no doubt multiplied in the 10th, as Mason Montgomery surrendered a three-run walk-off home run to Iván Herrera, sinking the Buccos in the first of three at Busch Stadium, 9-6. Pittsburgh has now lost four straight and five of six.

“Tough, tough loss,” manager Don Kelly said. “To come back from [down] 3-0, go up 4-3, and then to come back in the ninth there and have a chance to win, obviously a tough, tough loss.”

“I think we’re a little frustrated with the results, but you can’t get hung up on that,” Montgomery said. “I think you’ve got to just keep working, keep focusing on what we need to focus on. Long season, so there’s plenty of time to get back on the saddle.”

After putting up 22 consecutive scoreless turns at the plate dating to the start of Saturday’s home tilt with the Phillies, Pittsburgh's offense finally seemed to find something in its third look at Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore. The Pirates broke through for four runs in the top of the fifth, three with two outs, and seemed poised to silence the St. Louis crowd.

The hard-fought fifth-inning lead was gone by the end of the sixth.

It was lost in a matchup that pointed entirely in the Bucs’ favor. Starter Mitch Keller was pulled after 5 2/3 innings, striking out three and allowing four earned runs. That removal came just ahead of an at-bat by Nolan Gorman, who has homered three times against Keller since July 2024.

“He’s a great hitter as a left-handed hitter, especially against a right-handed arm,” Keller said of Gorman. “You’ve just got to mix it, stay aggressive against him. You can’t fall behind or he’s going to do damage against you.”

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Evan Sisk, a lefty who was drafted by St. Louis in the same 2018 class as Gorman and spent parts of three seasons as his Minor League teammate, was brought in to douse a rally, having never allowed a homer to a lefty in his big league career. He has now allowed one.

“I think it just comes down to execution,” Sisk said. “I feel good. Fastball was there on the outer half. Tried to go back to it and it just kind of leaked over the middle, and he put a good swing on it.”

“Gorman has had some success against Mitch, and getting in Sisk has been so good for us,” Kelly said of the move. “[He] hadn’t given up a home run to a lefty, and just liked the matchup there with Sisk in that moment.”

Pirates relievers have now allowed 20 homers in 190 innings this season; the group of starters has allowed just 23 in 247 2/3. That speaks less to the individual pitchers used in Tuesday’s loss than it does to the overall mix, but it still leaves Kelly and the rest of the Pirates’ brass searching for more reliable answers inside and perhaps outside the clubhouse.

“It’s something that we continue to talk about,” Kelly said. “There is opportunity. There’s gonna be an opportunity for guys that are currently on the team, externally as well, and just looking for guys to step up and claim that opportunity.”

Three of the four Pittsburgh relievers used in Tuesday’s game allowed a home run. Montgomery, Sisk and Brandan Bidois (a solo shot by Alec Burleson in the eighth) were all touched up, with only Gregory Soto’s scoreless ninth avoiding the barrage.

Jared Triolo contributed three singles and scored a run from the eighth spot in the order, and Oneil Cruz also reached safely three times with two hits (including an RBI single) and a walk. Reynolds’ two-run double in the fifth was the key hit in that inning’s rally, and it came with first-pitch aggression that served as an antidote to the deep counts from which Liberatore was generating strikeouts.

All that was left was for the bullpen to keep the ball in the park, and it did not.

“We’re going to learn from our mistakes and do what we can,” Sisk said, “but dwelling on it’s not going to do us any good.”