After Bryan Reynolds had cleared the loaded bases with a triple in a four-run third inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder was feeling good about the cushion they had built over the Miami Marlins.
“Then I remembered opening weekend they just kept coming back on us, so obviously wanted some more,” Reynolds said. “And we did that.”
When the Pirates opened the season in Miami, they lost three of the four games by one run in walk-off fashion. This time, the Pirates didn’t chance keeping it close, pounding 15 hits to top double digits for the third time this season in rolling to a 10-3 win Monday night before 9,283 at PNC Park. The start of the game was delayed 41 minutes by rain.
“I like those ones a lot better. I think we all do,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “But just the at-bats throughout, one through nine, I think everybody got a hit. Just tremendous effort by the offense, and the pitching did a good job as well.”
It was the fourth consecutive win for the Pirates (27-40), who also scored 10 runs in wins over Washington (10-3) on April 14 and at Arizona (10-1) on May 28. Not only did everyone in the order get at least one hit — Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier had three apiece — but everyone except for Reynolds scored a run as the Pirates went 8 for 19 with runners in scoring position.
The Pirates were facing a tall order, as Marlins 6-foot-8 right-hander Eury Perez was making his first start in the majors since undergoing Tommy John surgery and averaged 98.7 mph on his four-seam fastball, touching 99.7, per Statcast. Perez recorded nine strikeouts in a 2-0 win over the Pirates on June 25, 2023, but allowed four runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in three innings this time.
“Obviously he’s got some great stuff coming back off the injury,” Kelly said of Perez. “But you see the stuff that he’s got and the patience, the at-bats we were able to put together in the third and drive his pitch count up. … Just tremendous at-bats throughout.”
The odds favored the Pirates early, as they won a challenge in the first inning. Xavier Edwards hit a leadoff single and stole second base as Burrows struck out Jesus Sanchez. Upon review, the call was overturned when replays showed that catcher Brett Sullivan’s throw to shortstop Jared Triolo beat Edwards to the bag.
It was the Pirates debut for Sullivan, who was acquired from San Diego in April and whose contract was selected from Triple-A Indianapolis over the weekend when Endy Rodriguez experienced right elbow inflammation. Sullivan went 1 for 2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and a run scored, showed savvy on the basepaths and threw out a baserunner while handling four pitchers.
“That was a blast out there,” Sullivan said. “Honestly, just taking advantage of the opportunity and playing with these guys. For it to be that game and everyone contributing, that was just good, clean baseball all around. That’s what you want to be a part of.”
Burrows allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Otto Lopez sent a 2-1 fastball 408 feet to left field for his sixth home run.
“I challenged him with that heater, and he hit it out, but that didn’t stop anything,” Burrows said. “We just kept rolling. The guys put up runs, and that helped everything.”
The Pirates got to Perez in the third, forcing him to throw 39 pitches by going deep into counts. Sullivan worked a nine-pitch at-bat to draw a full-count leadoff walk, then showed some speed for a catcher by racing to third on Triolo’s single to center. Oneil Cruz drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases, and McCutchen hit a dribbler past the mound to score Sullivan and tie the game. Reynolds cleared the bases with a triple to the right-center gap, giving the Pirates a 4-1 lead.
“He’s a really good pitcher,” Reynolds said. “Obviously, first game back for him, but it felt great to bust it open and give us some momentum. We built off that the rest of the game.”
Heriberto Hernandez led off the fifth with a double to left, advanced to third on a fielding error by second baseman Nick Gonzales and scored on a sacrifice fly by Sanchez to cut it to 4-2.
But the Pirates answered with a four-run sixth that featured five hits and three Marlins errors and put the game out of reach. Spencer Horwitz started with a leadoff double, advanced to third on a single by Gonzales and scored on a single by Frazier. Ke’Bryan Hayes followed with a bunt down the third base line that Connor Norby barehanded but threw wide of first base, allowing Gonzales to score.
The ball rolled to Sanchez in foul territory in right field, but his one-hop throw skipped past catcher Agustin Ramirez, allowing Frazier to score. Sullivan’s sacrifice fly to center drove in Hayes to make it 8-2.
The Pirates added another run in the seventh on Sullivan’s bases-loaded single scored Horwitz for a 9-2 lead. They tacked on another in the eighth, when McCutchen scored from third on a Horwitz groundout.
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“It was good. Just putting the ball in play and finding a way to scratch, claw and grind out some at-bats,” Kelly said. “You know, it was a good win.”