PITTSBURGH -- The implications don’t get much higher for a game in late July.
The Pirates entered the series with the Diamondbacks one game behind Arizona in the National League Wild Card standings.
Pirates rookie Esmerlyn Valdez was hit in the left wrist by a pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning, exiting the game with training staff on Monday at PNC Park. Without one of its top bats, Pittsburgh battled back from down two runs and walked it off in the 10th for a 3-2 win over the D-backs.
“[Valdez] gets hurt, and I think it just speaks to the way the team has competed all year,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said postgame. “It's just next man up. Let's keep on going and find a way. ... That was a playoff atmosphere there, and the guys know it, and they competed like it.”
Concern remains with Valdez as he continued to be evaluated by the medical staff. Though the Pirates took care of business to win the series opener, with Mason Montgomery escaping a 10th-inning jam and Brandon Lowe ripping a single past first for the game-winner.
The 91 mph fastball from Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly left Valdez in plenty of pain. Kelly didn’t have any updates on Valdez postgame, saying the pitch seemed to have grazed and ricocheted down to Valdez's hand. Valdez was seen in the clubhouse postgame with no added support on his left arm, and he appeared to be in good spirits.
He’s been nothing short of a star since debuting with Pittsburgh on May 22, blasting 14 home runs in 38 games. Valdez is the latest Pirates position player to suffer an injury, as Spencer Horwitz, Endy Rodríguez, Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin have all had recent stints on the injured list. Rodríguez returned from injury on Monday, and Horwitz is expected to return shortly.
“Do I really need to harp on that?” Lowe joked when asked about Valdez’s impact on the club. “The kid's got, what, 30, 40 games under his belt? And he's sitting around 1.000 OPS, and that itself is incredible. He's been playing a great right field, and it's not just the home runs. He's taking really mature at-bats. He's been fantastic for us.”
Amid a pitchers' duel, Merrill was in command for most of the game until hitting Valdez. He held the Pirates down through five innings to match Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller. Then, Keller eventually cracked.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the top of the sixth and scored on a two-run double by Max Kepler to take the first lead of the game. As Merrill’s pitch count grew, the Pirates scraped a run across in the bottom half of the inning, with Lowe scoring Jake Mangum on an infield single.
Pittsburgh’s bullpen held the deficit at one long enough for its offense to climb back. In the bottom of the eighth, Lowe reached on a two-out double to put the tying run two bases away. Bryan Reynolds, who has hit under .230 in July, was called for two check-swing strikes by third-base umpire Ben May.
Kelly had enough and was ejected from the game by May after arguing the calls. A few pitches later, Reynolds tied the game with a double.
Both offenses stalled in the ninth. In the top of the 10th, Montgomery fell into a tough spot after Nick Gonzales made a throwing error on a routine grounder to make it second and third. Montgomery struck out Gabriel Moreno, intentionally walked Ketel Marte and induced a lineout from Kepler to squander the threat.
Billy Cook began the 10th inning on second base and moved to third on a single. He was caught in a rundown on an infield chopper from Mangum, getting back to third safe after Rodríguez came around to be tagged out. Then Lowe delivered the final blow, sending PNC Park into a frenzy.
The victory was one of Pittsburgh’s best of the year, and moved the Pirates (55-52) into a tie with the D-backs (55-52) for the final NL Wild Card spot. A win on Tuesday would secure a needed tiebreaker in the season head-to-head matchup. Valdez’s unknown status left a sour taste, though Pittsburgh again proved it could find a way.
“We need everybody pulling in the same direction. I think we saw that tonight,” Kelly said. “Especially with [Valdez] going down, there's adversity everywhere, and these guys have bounced back.”