Winning back-to-back series has been a foreign feeling of late for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the last time they did so was July 19-24, 2024, against Philadelphia and St. Louis.
But on the heels of a series win this week at the Los Angeles Angels, and having defeated the Dodgers in Friday’s series opener, a rare opportunity for consecutive series victories was up for grabs Saturday.
With that in mind, the Pirates sent Mitch Keller to the hill at Dodger Stadium to face rookie Roki Sasaki.
Keller (1-2, 3.97 ERA) did his part, delivering a quality start over six innings, while Oneil Cruz homered and accounted for three runners scored, but the Pirates fell 8-4 as a result of a big eighth inning by Los Angeles.
With the game tied at four in the bottom of the eighth, Teoscar Hernandez hit a go-ahead solo home run on the second pitch he saw from Colin Holderman, activated from the injured list only hours before the game and making his first appearance since April 5.
Then, after allowing a double to Tommy Edman and walking Will Smith, Holderman was removed by manager Derek Shelton in favor of Joey Wentz, who faced pinch-hitter Kike Hernandez.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, Kike Hernandez busted the game open, hitting a three-run homer to center field, making it 8-4.
Holderman (0-1, 15.43 ERA) was charged for a total of three runs in the frame, as well as the loss Saturday.
“It’s just a decision by me,” Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show of turning to Holderman. “There were different decisions made depending on what the score was. (Holderman) has pitched in those situations before. That’s the thing. He’s pitched in leverage and today, with where we were at with our bullpen, that’s the lane that we liked. We just didn’t get it done.”
Shelton indicated postgame that righty reliever Dennis Santana (1.46 ERA) was unavailable, while noting that David Bednar has pitched in three of the Pirates’ last four games.
Keller left the game with a one-run lead after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits, walking one with six strikeouts.
But up 4-3 in the seventh, the Pirates were unable to stay in front, as the Dodgers plated a run off Caleb Ferguson to tie the game.
Things began auspiciously for the Pirates, as Cruz, who’s approaching two weeks serving as the club’s leadoff batter, jacked a 97 mph heater from Sasaki to deep center field for a solo home run on the first pitch of the game.
Cruz’s ninth home run of the year — his fourth in the leadoff spot and third in his last four games — handed the Pirates a quick 1-0 lead.
However, the Dodgers struck back immediately in the bottom of the first, taking a 2-1 lead.
Shohei Ohtani led off with a double, advanced to third on a flyout by Mookie Betts and came home to tie the game courtesy of a Teoscar Hernandez RBI double.
Then, Edman hit a routine grounder to Adam Frazier at second base, seemingly signaling the end of the inning.
But Frazier, in motion, delivered a wildly errant throw to first that allowed Teoscar Hernandez to score, putting Los Angeles ahead by a run.
In the second, the Pirates (11-17) got two men aboard with no outs when Joey Bart walked and Ke’Bryan Hayes singled.
Following a force out by Frazier that advanced Bart to third, Tommy Pham hit into an frame-ending double play by flying out to Teoscar Hernandez, who proceeded to gun down Bart trying to tag up.
Frazier led off with a single in the fifth and Pham doubled, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
While Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out, Cruz got the job done, scoring them both with a single, as the Pirates went up 3-2.
But again, the Dodgers promptly responded, as Freddie Freeman scored Ohtani, who tripled, with an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, tying things up 3-3.
Keller stayed on for the sixth, retiring the Dodgers on only eight pitches before handing things over to the bullpen.
“I thought his stuff was really good, he used his fastball effectively, and overall, I thought he was really sharp,” Shelton said of Keller’s outing.
After Sasaki exited with two outs in the sixth, Jack Dreyer completed the frame and stayed on for the seventh, where he ran into a no-out jam, having loaded the bases after singles by Pham and Kiner-Falefa, as well as a walk by Cruz.
That brought Reynolds to the plate, who scored Pham with a productive ground ball to Freeman at first.
Ferguson took over for the Pirates in the seventh but couldn’t hold the 4-3 lead, as Ohtani tied it up with an RBI double, scoring Andy Pages, who singled.
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The Pirates had runners on first and third in the eighth after Hayes doubled and Pham walked, but were unable to break the 4-4 tie.
“We played well for eight innings,” Shelton said. “It was a good ball game and then we didn’t play well in the eighth inning.”