Cole Tucker hits walk-off homer as Pirates beat Orioles

Cole Tucker hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth — his second of the game and the team’s fifth — to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday in Bradenton, Fla.

Erik Gonzalez and Adam Frazier hit home runs in the fifth inning, and Patrick Kivlehan and Tucker hit back-to-back homers in the seventh. Tucker hit a leadoff homer off Branden Kline for the win.

.@cotuck and @PatrickKivlehan go back to back in the 7th and we’ve hit FOUR dingers today! pic.twitter.com/1aZYnZ5ciu

— Pirates (@Pirates) March 7, 2019

Jordan Lyles allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, striking out three and walking one in four innings. Geoff Hartlieb surrendered a home run but also had three strikeouts in relief.

The ol' 2-4-2, Just like we practice. pic.twitter.com/WVDJMAk12C

— Pirates (@Pirates) March 7, 2019

The Pirates went with a veteran lineup that saw Frazier bat leadoff and play second base, followed by Starling Marte in center field, Corey Dickerson at designated hitter, Josh Bell at first base, Francisco Cervelli at catcher, Melky Cabrera in left, Lonnie Chisenhall in right, Gonzalez at shortstop and Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead on shortstop Alcides Escobar’s RBI single to center in the second, then took advantage of a Gonzalez throwing error when third baseman Rio Ruiz hit an RBI single to score Eric Young Jr. in the third. Steve Wilkerson homered off Hartlieb in the top of the fifth.

Gonzalez, acquired in a five-player deal with Cleveland, hit his first homer with the Pirates on a one-out shot to left-center off Yefry Ramirez. Frazier added a two-out homer to right field to make it 3-2.

Kivlehan replaced Chisenhall in right in the sixth and led off the seventh with a tying homer to center. Tucker, who replaced Gonzalez at shortstop, followed with a home run to right for a 4-3 lead.

Baltimore tied the score, 4-4, in the top of the eighth, after former Pirate Chris Bostick hit a leadoff double off Nick Burdi and scored on Anthony Santander’s single to center.

Bostick hit a two-out double in the ninth to put runners on second and third, but Brandon Waddell got Santander to strike out swinging to end the inning.

Jameson Taillon threw 69 pitches in four innings in a simulated game at Pirate City.

The Pirates will play two games against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. Trevor Williams is scheduled to start against right-hander Sean Reid-Foley in Bradenton, with Mitch Keller, Aaron Slegers and Dovydas Neverauskas also expected to pitch. Rookie Davis will pitch against right-hander Marcus Stroman in Dunedin, with Michael Feliz, Luis Escobar and Eduardo Vera expected to pitch. The game in Bradenton will be televised on AT&T SportsNet.

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