Pirates fall to Cubs in bottom of 9th on controversial walk-off

An impressive pitching duel between the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bailey Falter and the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga dominated the majority of Saturday’s game at Wrigley Field, but a controversial safe call at home plate in the bottom of the ninth gave Chicago a 1-0 walk-off victory.

With one out and David Bednar on the mound, Christopher Morel hit a single into center field that scored Cody Bellinger from second base after he hit a ground-rule double.

Center fielder Michael A. Taylor made a one-hop throw to catcher Joey Bart that beat Bellinger, with Bart applying the tag to Bellinger’s leg.

But milliseconds after Bart tagged Bellinger, he attempted to show home-plate umpire Chris Conroy that he had possession of the ball, transferring it from his glove to his bare hand.

At that point, the collision with Bellinger caused the ball to pop loose.

Was Cody Bellinger SAFE or OUT on this game-winning play? ????pic.twitter.com/0g2yff02lt

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 18, 2024

“I was just trying to make the most athletic play I could,” Bart said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “I have no idea what happened there. Felt like I totally secured the ball. If you look at the video, he’s out. I’m showing the umpire the ball.

“There’s another play going on, so secure the ball and get ready for the next play with a guy running around the bases — that’s where my mind was at. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind. I don’t think really anyone on the field disagreed, but it’s part of the game and unfortunately it cost us.”

Manager Derek Shelton challenged the call at the plate, but after a review of several minutes, it was confirmed, sealing Chicago’s victory in the third of a four-game series.

Shelton’s vantage point of the play was similar to what Bart described.

“The way I saw the play was, it was the presentation of the ball,” Shelton said. “It was a voluntary presentation of the ball. In anything, whether there’s a fly ball to the outfield or a fly ball to the infield, my interpretation is Joey presented the ball.

“There’s another runner on base, so he’s presenting the ball to show the umpire that he’s out. You see him secure it, you see a tag, you see him take the ball out and then there’s contact with Bellinger. The way, again, I see it is, that’s voluntary — he’s taking the ball out. It’s a tag.”

Bednar (2-3, 8.31 ERA) was charged with the loss.

Falter (2-2, 3.53 ERA) took a no-decision but was electric for the Pirates (21-26), tossing a career-high 7 2/3 innings with zero runs allowed, three hits, two strikeouts and two walks.

He needed just 67 pitches to get through seven innings but was removed with two outs in the eighth after the Cubs got a pair of men on.

Falter found himself in a jam after walking Ian Happ and allowing a single to Nick Madrigal, which moved Happ to third.

Miles Mastrobuoni then grounded to first base, with Connor Joe firing the ball home to Bart, catching Happ in a rundown.

Bart chased Happ back up the third-base line and tagged him out. Colin Holderman took over on the mound, putting out the fire with a bases-loaded strikeout of Patrick Wisdom after walking Michael Busch.

“(Falter) was extremely impressive,” Shelton said. “He was extremely efficient and did a good job.”

Imanaga matched Falter in efficiency and effectiveness, limiting the Pirates to four hits while walking one and striking out seven.

Entering the game as MLB’s leader in ERA (0.96), Imanaga dropped it to 0.84 after his seven scoreless innings.

Imanaga walked Andrew McCutchen to begin the game but retired the next 11 batters.

The Pirates got their first hit of the game in the fourth, when Edward Olivares beat out a ground ball to Mastrobuoni at shortstop.

The seventh inning featured the Pirates’ only real scoring opportunity, when Jared Triolo and Bart hit back-to-back two-out singles off Imanaga, but Taylor struck out to end the frame.

Mark Leiter Jr. pitched the eighth for Chicago, striking out the side, and Hector Neris (4-0, 2.65 ERA) pitched a scoreless ninth and recorded the win.