Pirates 6, Blue Jays 5: Pedro Alvarez hit a game-tying two-run home run in the ninth inning and Starling Marte delivered a walk-off solo shot two batters later as Pittsburgh took the opener of its three-game interleague set with Toronto.
Neil Walker opened the ninth with a single – his third hit of the contest – off Sergio Santos (0-2), who struck out Andrew McCutchen in the following at-bat. However, Alvarez connected on a 1-0 offering for his seventh homer of the season and Marte ended it with a shot over the fence in center for his fourth hit of the game.
McCutchen had three hits, Walker scored three times and Mark Melancon (1-1) tossed a perfect ninth for the victory as Pittsburgh won for only the third time in 13 games. Jose Bautista doubled twice and knocked in a run to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for the Blue Jays, who finished with 10 hits – including seven for extra bases.
Toronto got on the board with two outs in the opening frame as Edwin Encarnacion doubled into the gap in left-center to score Bautista before the Pirates pulled even on a double-play grounder in the third. McCutchen’s grounder up the middle in the fourth plated Walker to put Pittsburgh in front, but the lead proved to be short-lived as Colby Rasmus lifted a first-pitch fastball just over the fence in left-center - a two-run shot to put Toronto ahead 3-2.
Jose Reyes singled and stole second to open the fifth before Bautista ripped a liner to right to make it 4-2, but the Pirates got the run back in the bottom half when Walker doubled and McCutchen singled for the second straight time to halve the deficit. The Blue Jays added some insurance in the sixth, however, as pinch hitter Steve Tolleson recorded his first career triple to right-center to score Brett Lawrie.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tolleson, who was promoted from Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday, recorded his first major-league at-bat since Sept. 25, 2012, as a member of the Baltimore Orioles. … Pittsburgh avoided falling to 0-3 in interleague play after going a major league-best 15-5 last season. … Bautista has reached base in all 29 games.
Toronto | Pittsburgh | |
Brandon Morrow | Player | Gerrit Cole |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
5.0 | IP | 5.0 |
2 | Strikeouts | 6 |
11 | Hits | 7 |
5.40 | ERA | 7.20 |
Toronto | Pittsburgh | |
Brett Lawrie | Player | Starling Marte |
2 | Hits | 4 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 7 |
.500 | Avg | .800 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Toronto | 10 | 1 | 20 | .263 | 18 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Pittsburgh | 17 | 2 | 27 | .425 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |