5/28/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter
Luis Ortiz struggled to get into a rhythm, Pirates hitters couldn’t get to soft-tossing southpaw Marco Gonzales and fell short in extras as they drop the rubber match 6-3. Ortiz gave up high solo home runs to Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh.
Ortiz rebounded to manage 5 innings with 5 hits, 3 runs and 6 strikeouts as he generated 14 swings and misses, but he allowed 4 walks in the outing. The third run scored off a Jarred Kelenic double to left in the 5th inning.
Pirates got a run on a sacrifice fly from Austin Hedges in the 5th, an RBI triple from Bryan Reynolds in the 8th which scored Andrew McCutchen from second. Reynolds would score on a wild pitch to Jack Suwinski, which tied the game.
Bullpen was shutting it down for the Pirates, forcing extra innings after Roansy Contreras, Colin Holderman and David Bednar threw a combined 4 innings and allowed just 1 hit against 4 strikeouts; however, the Pirates were unable to capitalize with men on 1st and 3rd and no outs in the 10th inning and the Mariners responded against reliever Robert Stephenson with a big three-run blast from Eugenio Suarez to take the game 6-3.
News & Notes
- Cutch started in the outfield for the first time since April 13.
- Both Rodriguez and Raleigh had launch angles of 43 degrees that each barely made it out.
- Contreras pitched out of the pen for the first time this season and looked solid once he settled in.
- Carlos Santana left the game in the 6th inning with reported lumbar spine muscular tightness. We are still awaiting further details but unlikely it will be a long-term issue at this point.
- Ke’Bryan Hayes struck out 4 times in the game, including a bases-loaded K in the top of the 10th inning. He went 1-for-18 in the series with his Friday home run standing as his lone hit.
- Ji-hwan Bae made a PHENOMENAL catch that prevented extra bases in the bottom of the 9th
- Pirates head to San Francisco to face the Giants. First pitch is at 5:05PM. Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 