LOS ANGELES -- If it had stayed fair, the game, for a second consecutive night, would have been flipped on its head in the ninth inning. 

Dodger Stadium fell silent as Bryan Reynolds’ line drive zoomed through the Los Angeles night. The ball wasn’t hit particularly high, but with the short fence in right field, it had the distance. Had the ball stayed fair, Reynolds would have had a three-run home run and the Pirates would have owned a one-run lead.

It landed a couple of feet too far to the right. The crowd exhaled. Reynolds settled for a walk. Three batters later, the game was over.

On a night when the Pirates couldn’t capitalize on a pair of bases-loaded, no-out situations and Roansy Contreras allowed back-to-back home runs to J.D. Martinez and David Peralta, the Pirates lost to the Dodgers, 6-4, on Wednesday at Chavez Ravine, unable to complete a ninth-inning rally for a second consecutive night. 

“I knew it was gone off the bat,” Andrew McCutchen said of Reynolds’ foul ball. “I just was hoping it'd stay fair, and it just missed. That last little bit, it just went right.” 

The first of Pittsburgh’s two bases-loaded, no-out situations occurred in the seventh, an opportunity to snatch the lead back from Los Angeles.

The Pirates had control of the ballgame heading into the bottom of the fifth. They led by as many as four runs thanks to Reynolds’ solo home run in the first and Jack Suwinski’s three-run homer in the fourth. 

After slicing their deficit in half against Osvaldo Bido in the fourth, the Dodgers took the lead in the fifth. Contreras’s back-to-back walks of Will Smith and Max Muncy set the table for Martinez, who deposited a slider into the left-field bleachers. Two pitches later, Peralta kept the function at Chavez Ravine going with a no-doubt homer down the right-field line, a shot he admired as it soared through the night. Dodger Stadium was vibing, but in the top of the seventh, Pittsburgh had an opportunity to deliver its own blow.

Jared Triolo started the frame with a single. Austin Hedges drew a walk. McCutchen followed suit with a walk, too, but not before falling to the dirt after being brushed back by Phil Bickford’s high-and-inside fastball. Bases loaded. No outs. Two-run deficit. 

Three batters later, the inning was over. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts swapped out Bickford for Ryan Brasier, who proceeded to douse the flames of the Pirates’ rally. Reynolds hit a 98.5 mph line drive up the middle, but a perfectly positioned Miguel Rojas hopped to reel it in. Henry Davis, too, lined out. Carlos Santana popped out, and the inning was over.

Two innings later, the offense found itself in the exact same situation.

Connor Joe came off the bench and delivered a ground-rule double. McCutchen drew another walk, one that didn’t require a checkup from manager Derek Shelton or a trainer. After his potential go-ahead home run hooked foul, Reynolds, too, drew a walk. Bases loaded. No outs. Two-run deficit. Similarly to the seventh, the Pirates were unable to scratch across at least one run.

Davis struck out looking on a slider that clipped the very bottom of the strike zone. Santana flied out to left field; at 255 feet, his drive wasn’t deep enough to drive in Joe from third. Suwinski was unable to check his swing and struck out. Between the two rallies, there were six opportunities and no runs.

“We just didn't capitalize on the two opportunities we had laid,” said Shelton. “We had good at-bats there. We just hit balls right at people.”

Added McCutchen: “I know if you asked all these guys, in that situation, we understand. Especially against a good ballclub like the Dodgers, we have to capitalize in those moments.”