Billy McKinney, Max Muncy homers boost Dodgers past Pirates after Steven Brault's strong start

The Pittsburgh Pirates made three mistakes that proved costly against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and only two of them came on swings by left-handed batters against lefty relievers.

A baserunning gaffe by Rodolfo Castro, who failed to tag up at third, prevented the Pirates from scoring a run in the seventh inning.

The Dodgers made them pay with a pair of solo home runs, one by Billy McKinney to tie it in the seventh and another by Max Muncy for the go-ahead run in the eighth in a 2-1 win Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

“We did a good job keeping a really good lineup off balance all day long,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We ended up in the middle of the plate, missed location both times. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

It was the third consecutive loss for the Pirates (42-77), who have now lost 14 in a row to the Dodgers, including 11 straight in Los Angeles.

The Pirates got a strong start by left-hander Steven Brault, who relied on his fastball, changeup and sinker to hold the Dodgers to three hits and one walk with four strikeouts after throwing 50 of his 76 pitches for strikes in 5⅔ scoreless innings.

“I thought he was outstanding,” Shelton said. “The changeup was the best it’s been in the three outings that he’s had. Executed the fastball really well. He pitched really well. He gave us a chance to win the game. I don’t think he could have pitched any better than he did.”

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the seventh, when Gregory Polanco was hit by a Brusdal Graterol pitch, reached second on a Castro single to short and scored when Wilmer Difo’s sacrifice bunt attempt resulted in first baseman Cody Bellinger’s errant throw to first.

But Castro didn’t tag up on Hoy Park’s fly out to left field and failed to score. Graterol intentionally walked Bryan Reynolds to load the bases with two outs before being replaced by Blake Treinen (3-5), who got Colin Moran to ground out to first to end the inning.

“Rudy should have tagged,” Shelton said of Castro. “He got too far down the line when the ball was hit. He should have got back and tagged.”

The Dodgers (73-46) made the Pirates pay for that mistake when McKinney — an outfielder acquired from the New York Mets last month — drove lefty Anthony Banda’s 1-1 fastball 399 feet to right-center for his first home run with the Dodgers to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.

Muncy also hit a 1-1 fastball off a Pirates lefty reliever, sending a Chasen Shreve (1-1) pitch 383 feet to right for a 2-1 lead. It was Muncy’s 26th home run of the season and third in two days, as he homered twice in Sunday’s 14-4 win over the New York Mets.

Brault gave up a leadoff single to Trea Turner then retired nine consecutive batters before walking Muncy in the fourth and giving up a single to Chris Taylor in the fifth.

Turner doubled to left-center in the sixth, and Brault hit Muncy with a pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. After getting Albert Pujols to chase a 3-0 pitch for a pop out to first, Brault was pulled by manager Derek Shelton.

With the Dodgers relying on relievers, Brault knew he wouldn’t be facing many pitchers. Instead, the Pirates ended up facing Cody Bellinger in the No. 9 spot in the order.

“It’s almost like pitching against an AL team,” Brault said. “But it was fun, you know? Still a little nerve-racking. Not gonna lie. Everybody that comes to your plate, you’ve got to be on your game.”

Shelton preferred the situational matchup and had Nick Mears to face the next two batters, both right-handers. Mears walked Justin Turner on four pitches to load the bases, then got A.J. Pollock to ground into a forceout at second to escape the jam.

The Dodgers had lefty Justin Bruihl pitch the first inning in his first major league start, then turned to rookie right-hander Andre Jackson. Making his MLB debut, Jackson pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

McKinney also made a big play in the third, throwing out Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base on a Reynolds broken-bat single to right. Hayes hesitated and was so late that Turner was able to leap for McKinney’s high throw and still make the tag.

“With Ke’Bryan, early in the game, one out, he was being aggressive. McKinney made a good throw,” Shelton said. “The second one, we’ve got to tag on that ball. That’s one of the things that we talk about where development still happens at the major league level. Rudy can’t take an extra couple of steps to see where that ball was. There’s air underneath it. He has to try to tag.”