Jacob Stallings delivers a walk-off hit to score Bryan Reynolds as Pirates top Phillies

When Bryan Reynolds hit a leadoff double in the ninth inning of a tied game then made a contact read to advance to third base on Gregory Polanco’s groundout, Jacob Stallings started to play out the possible scenarios in his mind from the on-deck circle.

“Once he got to third,” Stallings said, “I felt pretty good about our chances.”

The Pittsburgh Pirates felt the same way about how their catcher hits in the clutch. When John Nogowski drew a walk, Reynolds was ready to break for home plate if Stallings put the ball in play.

Stallings smacked a sharp grounder to third, and Reynolds beat Alec Bohm’s throw to the plate to score the game-winning run for a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night before a season-best crowd of 32,071 at PNC Park.

It was the seventh career walk-off hit for Stallings and his fourth this season, coming exactly two weeks after his grand slam to beat the New York Mets, 9-7, on July 17.

“He’s got a knack for walk-off’s for sure,” Reynolds said. “When they walked NoGo, I figured Stallings would do something. And he did, of course.”

For as much as Stallings was the hero, Pirates manager Derek Shelton credited both Reynolds’ baserunning and the defensive play that rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes made in the top of the ninth. Just a half-inning before, Hayes was hit in the helmet by Phillies first baseman Brad Miller on a throw from Bohm. Hayes squatted and winced in pain but stayed in the game to throw out J.T. Realmuto with runners on first and second for the final out.

“The play Key made in the ninth, he made that look like it was a routine play,” Shelton said. “That was not a routine play. That was a really good play.”

There was nothing routine about how the Pirates (40-64) won their second consecutive game over the Phillies (51-53). Shelton said right-hander Mitch Keller, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, will start Sunday afternoon for the finale of the three-game series as the Pirates seek their first sweep of the season.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead over the Phillies in the third inning. Rookie second baseman Rodolfo Castro hit a leadoff single, then scored on Newman’s triple to the right-center gap for a 1-0 lead. Ben Gamel hit a pop fly to shallow center that shortstop Didi Gregorius tracked over his shoulder before being called off by a sliding Travis Jankowski, whose glove missed the ball, and Newman scored from third to make it 2-0.

Pirates starter JT Brubaker, who allowed one run on three hits and two walks while striking out four, was perfect through the first three innings before Castro had an error on a Bryce Harper grounder deep in the hole at second base. But Brubaker got Andrew McCutchen – who received a hearty ovation before his first at bat for the second consecutive game – to ground into a forceout at second base.

The Phillies got their first hit when Brad Miller singled to center, which was followed by singles by Brohm and Travis Jankowski – off Newman’s glove – to load the bases. Phillies starter Aaron Nola helped his own cause, with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Miller to cut it to 2-1. Brubaker walked Jean Segura to load the bases again but got Realmuto to ground out to second to escape any further damage.

The Phillies tied it at 2-2 in the eighth when Realmuto lined a double to right off David Bednar, then scored on Bryce Harper’s single to left through the shift.

Chris Stratton (4-1) earned the win after pitching a scoreless ninth, striking out the first two batters before giving up back-to-back singles to pinch hitter Ronald Torreyes and Jean Segura. Stratton, however, got Realmuto to ground out to Hayes at third for the final out.

That’s when Reynolds doubled off Jose Alvarado (6-1) to start the ninth. Reynolds saw shortstop Didi Gregorius playing up the middle, so he took off when Polanco grounded to Bohm in the hole.

“That’s just such a huge play by him,” Stallings said. “That’s a really hard read on a flare line drive like that, and to get to third, trust me, it’s a really, really hard read. Not one I probably would have been able to make, and you’ve got to give him credit.”

With the Phillies infield playing in, Stallings was looking for a sinker in the strike zone. After working Alvardo to a 3-1 count, Stallings drilled a hard grounder to Bohm. As he ran toward first base, Stallings turned around and watched the play at the plate.

“I thought he was easily safe just live, and then looking at the replay I saw it was closer than I thought,” Stallings said. “But, I mean, two really unbelievable baserunning plays by Bryan, not to mention the leadoff double. To get to third is probably even a better read than the one he had on my ball. Really can’t say enough about the baserunning.”

Reynolds slid under Realmuto’s tag to set off a celebration but video of the bang-bang play at the plate was reviewed before it was officially ruled that Reynolds had scored the winning run.

“I knew I’d beat the ball there but you never know with the replay and all that, if your foot’s up,” Reynolds said. “I thought I was safe. Then they reviewed it for awhile, and they showed the replay after a long time and it was obvious that I was safe.”