Pirates top Marlins in 10 innings to earn 4-game sweep in season-opening series

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ season-opening four-game series in Miami against the Marlins already was full of firsts entering Easter Sunday’s finale.

Jared Jones dazzled in his MLB debut Saturday, picking up his first win in his first MLB start.

Before that, reliever Ryder Ryan earned his first big-league win Friday.

And, in Thursday’s season opener, Jose Hernandez earned his first save.

There were several more firsts in store for the Pirates on Sunday during their 9-7 victory in 10 innings as they battled back from an early five-run hole.

The win completed a sweep and moved the Pirates to 4-0 to close the month of March.

“Overall, good team victory, just like the other three games,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Everybody that did participate contributed. … The thing that stands out to me is that we have 26 guys on our roster, and all 26 in a four-game series did something to help us win. I think that’s really important.”

Per the Pirates, the last time the club began a season with a four-game road sweep in one city was 1903 against Cincinnati.

The Pirates racked up 31 runs and 46 hits over the four games in Miami.

First baseman Rowdy Tellez blasted his first homer in a Pirates uniform, a three-run shot in the seventh inning that put his club ahead 7-6.

Then, after the Marlins tied the score in the bottom of the ninth when Nick Gordon hit a solo shot off David Bednar, Hunter Stratton came on in the 10th. With the Pirates in front by a pair of runs, Stratton closed the door for his first MLB save.

“You only dream of moments like this,” Stratton said. “You always want to get put in that situation to see if you can make it happen. I just got an opportunity and made the most of it.”

The winning run came in the top of the 10th when a perfectly placed bunt up the first-base line by Jason Delay scored Oneil Cruz from third.

Cruz, pinch-running at second, advanced to third on an Alika Williams bunt, coupled with an error on pitcher Tanner Scott.

The Pirates got another in the 10th when Michael A. Taylor drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Williams.

The Marlins roughed up Pirates starter Bailey Falter early, plating five runs in the bottom of the first inning, four of which coming on Jazz Chisholm’s grand slam.

Falter managed to recover after the calamitous first inning, but Avisail Garcia hit a solo shot off of him in the fourth to make it 6-4.

Falter was replaced in the fifth and took a no-decision after allowing six runs on five hits. Falter struck out two and walked three.

The Pirates’ rally from a 5-0 deficit began in the second inning when a two-out triple by Williams plated a pair, and Bryan Reynolds scoring Williams via an RBI single to trim the deficit to 5-3.

In the fourth, once again with two outs, Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in Connor Joe with a single.

Tellez came to bat in the seventh — having struck out in his three prior at-bats — and his team down 6-4.

Battling through eight pitches from Miami reliever Vladimir Gutierrez, Tellez jacked the ninth pitch he saw over the center-field wall, scoring Hayes and Edward Olivares.

“Frustrating first three at-bats, but never want to give up on an at-bat,” Tellez said. “So going into that one, I’ve faced (Gutierrez) before, I kind of knew everything that was in his repertoire. Hunting certain pitches, getting into certain counts, (I) put together a good at-bat.”

Ryan Borucki took over in the bottom of the seventh, striking out a pair, and Aroldis Chapman did the same in the eighth.

Up next for the Pirates is a three-game series on the road against Washington beginning Monday afternoon.

Marco Gonzales is scheduled to start for the Pirates.