Cole Tucker's sacrifice fly, Chris Stratton's save lead Pirates past Marlins

After Chris Stratton gave up a leadoff triple then struck out the next two batters in the ninth inning, Derek Shelton made a mound visit to offer a risky proposition that put the outcome on the line.

The Pittsburgh Pirates manager gave the righty reliever the choice of facing Lewin Diaz or intentionally walking the left-hander and putting the winning run on base to get to rookie right-hander Payton Henry.

Stratton turned to Jacob Stallings, placing his trust in the catcher, and elected to roll the dice. The gamble paid off, as Stratton got Henry swinging at a curveball in the dirt that Stallings blocked for the final out.

Stratton’s save capped what Shelton called an “outstanding” performance by the Pirates’ pitching staff in a 2-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday night at loanDepot Park.

“I think you have to trust your players, and you have to trust Chris Stratton,” Shelton said of the 30-year-old right-hander, who has one win and four saves in his last five appearances. “He’s been really good. He’s executed pitches. I think his last two outings have been as good as we’ve seen him. To get a runner on third, nobody out and then go punchout, punchout with the execution of pitches, complete trust in him.”

As much as Shelton trusted his closer, Stratton credited Stallings with calling the right pitches and saving his best for last by blocking the ball in the dirt. Stallings was a Gold Glove finalist last year and received a post-game endorsement from Stratton to win the award this year.

“He’s been doing it all year, bailing pitchers out of bad situations,” Stratton said. “Not ideal to have the first guy on third base, but just trusting him and knowing that it doesn’t matter what I throw there that he’s going to get in front of it. I think that he’s one of the best in the league at it.”

It was the seventh win in the past 10 games for the Pirates (55-92) and a good start to a 10-game road trip with stops in Miami, Cincinnati and Philadelphia. The Pirates improved to .500 (20-20) in one-run games.

Pirates starter Wil Crowe (4-7) struck out five while giving up three hits and one walk in five innings to earn his first win since July 30. It was his longest outing since Aug. 29, but the 74 pitches were his fewest of any start this season. Anthony Banda, Nick Mears and Chad Kuhl combined for three scoreless innings before Stratton entered in the ninth.

“That was about as well as we can pitch,” Shelton said. “That was outstanding. Every guy that came in executed pitches and followed the gameplan. I don’t know if we can pitch a game better than that throughout.”

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Bryan Reynolds drew a two-out walk, advanced to second when Colin Moran walked and scored when Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. made an error on a grounder up the middle by Stallings.

Cole Tucker followed with a bloop single to center, but third base coach Joey Cora sent Moran home, where he was thrown out by a mile. Marlins center fielder Bryan De La Cruz’s threw to catcher Henry, who was waiting in front of the plate to tag a sliding Moran.

The Marlins tied it in the second inning, when Jesus Sanchez drew a leadoff walk, reached second on a single by Diaz and scored on a single to right by Eddy Alvarez. Marlins left fielder Lewis Brinson robbed Anthony Alford of an extra-base hit in the fourth, sprinting to his right to make a leaping grab at the wall on a 359-foot blast that would have been a home run in 16 major league ballparks.

The Pirates started the sixth with Moran and Stallings drawing back-to-back walks, then advancing on a wild pitch by Elieser Hernandez (1-2) that slid under Henry’s glove. Tucker hit a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Moran to score easily for a 2-1 lead.

“Just wanted to again try to get someone across there with the sac fly,” said Tucker, who started the game at shortstop but finished in right field. “I was grinding a little bit that at-bat. Chased a pitch down. Fouled a slider off/down. To get a pitch up and be able to drive it and do something with it and have a productive at-bat is always fun.”

The Marlins (62-85) threatened to score in the ninth, when Bryan De La Cruz led off by hitting Stratton’s 2-2 curveball to right-center that dropped in front of a diving Reynolds and got past right fielder Cole Tucker for a triple.

Stratton responded by striking out Sanchez and Brinson before Shelton made the mound visit. It was a calculated risk, given Henry was making his major-league debut but had doubled in the fifth. And it worked, as Stratton struck him out to end the game and earn the save.

“We’re all pulling for him. It’s really fun to see him have success, especially in that situation,” Tucker said of Stratton. “Ball splits me and Reynolds, looks like anything can happen. We’re going to extras. We could lose. Anything could happen. For him to pull through and get those three outs was awesome.”