Pirates hope to build off stirring 10th-inning homers

Reynolds, Hayes go back-to-back for Bucs' 4th win in extras this season

April 28th, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- barely had time to get his high fives in the dugout before he watched make flush contact with a Taylor Rogers sweeper. Reynolds had just given the Pirates their first lead of this Giants series off a similar sweeper two pitches earlier, pulling it down the line and over Oracle Park’s left-field wall. Hayes’ blast was more to left-center, but it still cleared for his first homer of the year.

Reynolds doesn’t normally show much emotion on the diamond, so a quick yell and a cracked grin may not seem like much. But for him?

“I think that’s about as much as you’ll see,” joked manager Derek Shelton after Saturday's game. “You don’t see very much from him, but I think there was some good emotion there.”

After much stagnation from the Pirates’ offense of late, those 10th-inning homers on a frigid night on the Bay were enough to heat up the offense and get the Pirates back to .500 with a 4-3, 10-inning victory.

“It’s going to be good momentum-wise,” said Reynolds. “Maybe just build off that and score some runs before the 10th, to be honest.”

Runs have been at a premium of late. Entering Saturday, the Pirates were losers of nine of their last 11 games, scoring two or fewer runs in eight of them. That included being shut out for the first time all season Friday.

It’s a team sport, but Reynolds and Hayes are two of the team’s biggest bats, and they hadn’t produced that much of late. Reynolds could not come through in bases-loaded opportunities in the seventh and ninth Friday, including grounding into a bases-loaded double play in the latter frame. Hayes’ 10th-inning homer Saturday was his first of the season. While he has been doing a good job getting on base (.364 on-base percentage entering the night), he hadn’t been racking up extra-base hits like he did over the second half of last season (.341 slugging percentage entering Saturday).

But in the 10th, the two delivered.

“Two big hits by guys we need big hits from,” Shelton said.

Perhaps such homers can jump-start their seasons and, in turn, the offense. Hayes doesn’t view the offense as needing just a launching pad, though. In his eyes, this offense does its best work whenever it’s able to pass the baton from one hitter to another and keep innings going. That’s easier said than done, but some good swings from the Nos. 2 and 3 hitters, plus guys like Connor Joe and Rowdy Tellez on Saturday, is a positive sign.

It also helps that this marks the Pirates’ fourth extra-inning win of the season, surpassing their 2023 total.

"I think with extra-inning games, it comes down to who can execute,” Hayes said. “Tonight it happened to be the long ball, but it's not always going to be like that. Sometimes it's going to be getting a guy over and then a single, stuff like that. The last few days, really since the Milwaukee series, just trying to do the little things better. I think we can be a little bit better with runners in scoring position, whenever we get some guys on. I think we'd, collectively, like to be a little better."

So how do they go about doing that night to night and getting the offense going like it was the first two weeks of the season?

"I think it's a little bit of everything,” Hayes said. “I can't really speak for everyone else, but just trying to slow the game down the best you can. Not trying to do too much.”

After some somber postgames of late, the visitor’s clubhouse sounded and looked much more lively. It may only be April 27 and the season is only one month old, but a win like that seemed to help the group exhale a bit. There’s still the series rubber game Sunday and plenty of baseball ahead of them, but like extra innings, it can be a chance to reset.

“That's all about it, man. Have fun,” said Martín Pérez, who tossed six innings with one unearned run allowed. “This is a game and it's hard. We don't have to make it harder. Just make simple things and the game is going to tell you what you need to do. At the end of the night, you're going to win a game. So I think we're in a good direction and we'll see where we're at tomorrow."