Propelled by a pair of home runs, Pirates use patience at plate to top Nationals

Derek Shelton wants his hitters to be aggressive at the plate, but when their swings were leading to quick outs the Pittsburgh Pirates manager asked for a different approach.

The Pirates’ patience paid off.

After rallying to tie the game with a pair of fifth inning home runs, the Pirates followed four walks with back-to-back RBI singles in a four-run sixth inning to pull away for a 10-7 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night before an announced crowd of 17,993 at PNC Park. After winning the first two of the three-game series, the Pirates will seek their first sweep of the season when they play the Nationals at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

The Pirates were inspired by the pregame ceremony that honored the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by lining the surviving family members of the victims of United Flight 93 around the infield and, after a moment of silence, had Pittsburgh Public Safety first responders unfurl a giant U.S. flag in the outfield during the national anthem. Pirates and Nationals players then circled the infield, shaking hands with all of the family members of the 9/11 victims.

“I thought it was very inspiring. When you’re on the field with the families of 40 people who are heroes, in my mind, on a day that has changed our world,” said Shelton, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from Col. Chris Whalen. “To be out there, to be able to see it and to be able to catch the first pitch from the colonel who lost someone (a cousin) on Flight 93 was very touching, it was very inspiring and I think it’s how baseball and life kind of mesh together. It was really special to be part of.”

The Pirates (52-90) then won their fourth game in five days, drawing more walks (10) than hits (seven). Hoy Park drew three walks alone, scoring thre runs, while Bryan Reynolds was 2 for 4 with two walks, three RBIs and two runs and Colin Moran was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

“I think it was the difference in the game,” Shelton said of the walks. “I think at one point, we had two hits and we had scored four runs. I thought our guys did a really good job with their approach. They stayed consistent with it, didn’t give in and because of it, we had a ton of baserunners on base and were able to capitalize on it.”

The Nationals (58-84) had a 5-3 lead in the fifth when Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a full-count walk and Reynolds drove a first-pitch fastball 426 feet over the right-center wall for a two-run home run – his 23rd of the season – to cut it to 5-4. Ben Gamel added another blast by driving a 2-0 fastball over the Clemente Wall to tie it.

“All my at-bats I was ready if the first pitch was a good one to hit. That was a good one to hit,” Reynolds said. “I was able to pull the trigger and put the barrel on it. That’s all I was trying to do.”

Reynolds admitted to being frustrated after three hard hits to left field in Friday 4-3 win, all for outs. He lined out in his first at bat Saturday.

“The only thing I said to him after his first at bat was you need to hit it softer and find some outfield grass,” Shelton said, “and he ended up hitting a two-iron into the seats.”

Josiah Gray allowed five runs on three hits while walking six and striking out three in five innings. Gray was replaced in the sixth by lefty Alberto Baldonado, who walked Michael Perez and Hoy Park before Kevin Newman’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners.

The Nationals turned to Andres Machado to face Ke’Bryan Hayes, whose walk-off single lifted the Pirates to a 4-3 win on Friday night. Machado walked Hayes on four pitches to load the bases, struck out Tsutsugo then walked Reynolds on five to score Perez as the Pirates took a 6-5 lead.

Moran followed with a two-out chopper that Machado couldn’t get his glove on as it rolled down the first base line, scoring Park for a 7-5 lead. Gamel drilled a grounder that was bobbled Luis Garcia, playing deep in the hole at second base. Garcia’s error allowed Hayes and Reynolds to score to make it 9-5.

Moran’s bases-loaded single to right field drove in Park for a 1-0 lead in the third, but Tsutsugo was called out by umpire Nestor Ceja on Juan Soto’s throw to rookie catcher Keibert Ruiz. The Pirates challenged the call, however, as Ruiz was blocking Tsutsugo’s path to the plate and dropped the ball while trying to make the tag. The call was overturned after a one-minute, 36-second video review, giving Tsutsugo a run scored for a 2-0 lead.

After cruising through the first two innings on 25 pitches, Pirates starter Wil Crowe labored through the a 26-pitch third. In the fourth, he gave up successive singles to Alcides Escobar, Juan Soto and Josh Bell to load the bases, then struck out Yadiel Hernandez and Carter Kieboom. Ruiz redeemed himself with a bases-clearing double to right-center for a 3-2 lead.

Lefty reliever Anthony Banda replaced Crowe in the fifth but gave up back-to-back doubles to Lane Thomas and Alcides Escobar for a 4-2 Nationals lead. Escobar advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Soto’s single to right field to give the Nationals a 5-2 lead.

The Pirates followed with the four-run sixth. The Nationals cut it to 9-6 when Yadiel Hernandez singled to left to score Soto, but Chasen Shreve got out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Garcia to ground out to second.

Kevin Newman’s RBI double down the third base line drove in Park for a 10-6 lead in the seventh, and he advanced to third on the throw. When Hayes struck out swinging, the ball got away from catcher Riley Adams. Newman tried to score from third but Adams threw to pitcher Sam Clay for the tag.

Pinch hitter Ryan Zimmerman led off the eighth with a home run to straightaway center off Shelby Miller, cutting it to 10-7. Chris Stratton pitched the ninth for his fourth save as the Pirates held on for the win – the first of reliever Kyle Keller’s major league career – and celebrated the victory with fireworks.

“Just remembering everything that happened on 9/11 and getting to see some people, the way we went about it, it was awesome,” Crowe said. “Never forget what happened that day and everything, so the ceremony was good. It’s a tough day for us as a country, but you know, we’ve gotten better from it. We did a good job of really showing how we felt and how to make everything better.”