Pirates blow 4-run lead to drop finale to Indians, finish 19-41 in shortened season

It was important to manager Derek Shelton that the Pittsburgh Pirates played to win the final game of the regular season, even though they long had been eliminated from playoff contention.

Cleveland had clinched, so the Pirates wanted to play spoiler for the Indians’ seeding.

Instead, Carlos Santana and Franmil Reyes spoiled the Pirates’ season finale as each had four RBIs, as the Indians rallied from a four-run deficit for an 8-6 victory Sunday afternoon in the regular-season finale at Progressive Field.

“As we talked all year long about finishing games and teaching points and all those things,” Shelton said, “it still shows up on the last day of the season.”

The Indians (35-25) earned the No. 4 seed in the AL playoffs with their win over the Pirates combined with a Chicago White Sox 10-8 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The Indians will host the New York Yankees.

After losing 17 of their first 21 games, the Pirates (19-41) finished the 60-game schedule by winning four of their last six in Shelton’s first season as manager. Before that, they had lost 13 of 14, including a season-high eight consecutive.

Another storyline was the bat of Pirates rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who was coming off a 5-for-5 performance Saturday night. With a single and a homer in his first two at-bats, he had hit safely in eight consecutive at-bats against Cleveland to become the first Pirates player to do so since Andy Van Slyke in 1994.

Hayes broke into a big smile when Indians pitcher Cam Hill intentionally walked him rather than risk another hit with one out and a runner on second in the fifth. The Indians brought in Oliver Perez to face lefty Colin Moran, whose grounder forced Hayes out at second. That gave Hayes 10 consecutive trips on base.

“It kind of caught me off guard at first, then I just kind of smiled or whatever,” Hayes said. “I was swinging it pretty good. It was a sign of respect to me.”

The streak ended when Nick Wittgren struck out Hayes in the sixth. Hayes went 2 for 4 after flying out to center in the ninth and finished the season with a .376 batting average (32 for 85) and a 1.124 OPS in 24 games.

“It’s a confidence booster for me to get out there, get some games and have some success,” Hayes said.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after JT Riddle reached second base on an error by Santana when his pop up dropped in shallow right field. Riddle scored on Jose Osuna’s RBI single to right.

Hayes hit a Cal Quantrill 1-1 slider 394 feet and just over Oscar Mercado’s glove in center for a 2-0 lead. Santana, who doubled in the first, tied the score with a 445-foot, two-run shot off JT Brubaker in the third.

The Pirates scored two runs in the fifth for a 4-2 lead after Osuna hit a leadoff shot to center and Adam Frazier doubled and scored on shortstop Francisco Lindor’s throwing error while trying to turn a double play on a Moran grounder to second.

Lindor, however, made up for that with what Shelton called “a hell of a play” to get Moran out with runners on second and third in the sixth, setting up a five-run swing. Instead of scoring two more runs, the Pirates surrendered three when Brubaker gave up a leadoff double to Ramirez, walked Santana and served a three-run homer to Reyes as the Indians cut it to 6-5.

“Some mistake pitches that their boppers hit with runners on,” said Brubaker, who allowed five runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. “They got me when runners were on. Big swings in moments where they RBI opportunities. Tip your cap to ‘em. Other than that, I felt like I had my stuff. I felt like my stuff was there. I just need to limit the mistake pitches.”

The Indians took an 8-6 lead with a three-run seventh against Nik Turley.

The lefty reliever hit Hernandez with a pitch and gave up back-to-back doubles to Ramirez and Santana, who took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Reyes.

It was a tough way to end a season of close losses, as the Pirates lost 15 games by one run and five in extra innings.

“If there’s a positive in there, it’s that we’re in those games and we’re not getting blown out, or we’re not getting it handed to us,” Shelton said. “We have to figure out a way to execute.”