The Pittsburgh Pirates put themselves in position to deliver a second straight shocking defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday at PNC Park.
Despite erratic pitching, the offense rallied multiple times after the Pirates fell behind by five runs early.
Ultimately, another comeback and a series win wasn’t in the cards, as the Dodgers capitalized on ineffective outings by Mitch Keller, Evan Sisk and Brandan Bidois in an 8-6 win in front of 30,660 fans.
Keller, Yohan Ramirez, Sisk and Bidois combined for eight walks, three hit batters and a wild pitch, creating too deep a hole for the Pirates (35-34) to dig out of.
“We got down early again,” manager Don Kelly said. “Found a way to claw back. Really got in a position to make a run there. Especially with (Los Angeles’) bullpen being good, to stack those at-bats together late, I thought offensively, we stuck with the plan pretty well.”
Los Angeles took a 5-0 lead by the end of the fourth, chasing Keller (5-4, 5.14 ERA), but the Pirates plated four in the fifth.
Sisk then let up a pair of runs in the seventh, and Bidois surrendered one more in the eighth.
A Tyler Callihan triple and back-to-back doubles by Jake Mangum and Rafael Flores, which cut Los Angeles’ lead to 8-6 in the bottom of the eighth, made things interesting late.
But the Dodgers’ Tanner Scott struck out the side in the ninth, retiring Bryan Reynolds, Ryan O’Hearn and Spencer Horwitz to close the door.
For the third straight start, Keller failed to pitch at least five innings, throwing 98 pitches over four frames.
He took the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits with four walks, two hit batters and three strikeouts.
“Obviously, not executing,” Keller said of his rough stretch. “Walking people’s not helping me. Just got to be better. Got to fill it up more, attack the hitters and just execute when I’ve got them in two strikes.”
In the seventh, Sisk allowed two runs on two hits as the Dodgers scored critical insurance runs, and Bidois allowed an unearned run in the eighth.
Justin Wrobleski started for the Dodgers (44-25) and lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits.
He, along with Shohei Ohtani, left the game with injuries.
Ohtani, already with a home run, double and four RBIs in the series entering Thursday, homered again in the third inning, as he connected on a full-count sweeper from Keller to make it 1-0.
After Andy Pages singled and Freddie Freeman was hit by a pitch, Kyle Tucker drove in a pair with a bloop single down the third-base line, making it 3-0 Dodgers.
In the fourth, Ohtani singled and moved to third on a Pages hit, bringing Freeman to the plate, who made it 4-0 with an RBI single.
Keller then walked Betts to load the bases before a wild pitch allowed Pages to score, handing the Dodgers a 5-0 advantage.
Keller was replaced in the fifth by Ramirez after throwing 98 pitches.
“(Keller) had a tough time with the command, some walks and hit by pitch(es),” Kelly said. “The one big hit early was Tucker. Wasn’t a real solid hit, but it was a hit with bases loaded, timely. Just looked like he had trouble finishing off batters. … We have to find something to help him out to get out of this rut.”
In the bottom of the fifth, Flores went deep to center field for his first big-league homer, a 440-foot solo shot 108.7 mph off the bat, per Statcast, making it 5-1.
After a hit by Nick Gonzales, Brandon Lowe hit his 16th home run of the season over the Clemente Wall to trim the Dodgers’ lead to 5-3.
With right-hander Will Klein entering the game to pitch for the injured Wrobleski, Kelly opted to replace cleanup man and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna with a pinch-hitter in O’Hearn.
O’Hearn singled, moving Reynolds, who also singled, to second base for Horwitz, who made it 5-4 with an RBI hit.
In the seventh, Sisk took over and the Dodgers added some insurance.
With runners on second and third, after a walk by Alex Call and double by Dalton Rushing, pinch-hitter Miguel Rojas drove in Call on a fielder’s choice to Lowe.
Lowe fired home to Flores, but a close play at the plate wasn’t in time.
Santiago Espinal, replacing Ohtani, then singled to load the bases before a passed ball by Flores brought in Rushing, making it 7-4.
Los Angeles took an 8-4 lead in the eighth courtesy of a Miguel Rojas sacrifice fly to score Tucker, who struck out but got aboard on a passed ball by Flores.
The Pirates rallied in the bottom of the eighth, as Callihan led off with a triple off the Clemente Wall and Mangum doubled him home, making it 8-5.
Flores then followed with a double just out of reach of Tucker in right field, allowing Mangum to score, cutting the deficit to 8-6.