The way the Pittsburgh Pirates lost a lead against the San Francisco Giants caused quite a stir among their fans.
Austin Hedges, the veteran catcher who started for his defense, allowed a pass ball that put the deciding run at third base and the go-ahead at second base. Rookie right-fielder Henry Davis, who was the No. 1 overall as a catcher in 2021, let the winning run score due to an error.
The Giants hit three runs against Colin Holderman in the seventh inning and capitalized on both mishaps in the seventh inning for a 6-4 comeback win Friday night ahead of 33,813 at PNC Park.
It was an ominous start to the second half of the season for the fourth-ranked NL Central Pirates (41-50), who lost for the eighth time in 10 games and lagged 8 1/2 games in the division standings.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton cheered on Holderman (0-1) and conceded a walk to JD Davis with an out in the seventh inning after the Pirates hit two runs in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead.
“I mean, we can’t run a guy in the middle of an inning,” Shelton said. “We didn’t do any pitches. We continued to fight aggressively and took the lead. We need to get a shutdown inning there and we didn’t do that.”
Unable to hold the lead, Holderman conceded a leadoff double to Wilmer Flores before defeating Davis. Both runners advanced after a pass ball that got past Hedges.
“You called that a pass ball?” said Shelton. “So (Hedges) is lined up away and (Holderman) misses the plate at 98 (mph)? That’s a wild pitch. This pitch needs to be implemented better. It’s not a pass ball.”
Regardless, Patrick Bailey played a lone ball down right field to level Flores and JD Davis got the go-ahead when Henry Davis bobbled the ball. The Giants extended their lead when Bailey stole second base and then went for a 6-4 lead with a Luis Matos single on left Ryan Borucki.
“You want to come back from the break and have a good start,” Holderman said. “Being ambushed by Flores – that was hardly fair – and then a ground ball came through and I probably shouldn’t have let the guy go. I would like some pitches back but at the end of the day they are paid for too. Everything had to go right for me to get my chance.”
Shelton scored a pinch hit for Hedges at the end of the seventh pitch, striking twice, but said there were no plans to reconsider whether Hedges should remain the Pirates’ starting catcher.
“No,” said Shelton. “In the moment not.”
The Giants (50-41), winning their third game in a row, went 2-0 up in game five when Brandon Crawford hit a leadoff single, Austin Slater doubled and Michael Conforto hit a one-out single on the right field line to score both runners.
The Pirates responded with Ji-Man Choi Ross driving Stripling’s 1-2 fastball 404 feet to the left-center bullpen, where he hit a leadoff home run to make it 2-1. Jared Triolo followed with a single to the right, moving up to third base after a single from Tucupita Marcano at center and equalizing when Stripling was stopped for a ball against Hedges.
The score didn’t stay tied for long. Matos hit a single, took third place through Casey Schmitt’s double to the left, and scored to short after Crawford’s groundout to give the Giants a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Slater had a full count, but Rich Hill, the Pirates’ starter, made him swing a cutter over the letters to end the frame.
Hill, 43, threw a pitch for the Pirates on a muggy, 85-degree night, conceding three runs with seven hits and two walks while battling through 91 pitches over six innings, while throwing a split- Finger fastball continued during the break.
The Pirates rewarded Hill by rallying late in the sixth when Bryan Reynolds hit a leadoff single against Giants left-hander Sean Manaea, who then joined Henry Davis and Carlos Santana to fill the bases with no outs. Choi hit a victim flight to the right to meet Reynolds for a 3-3 equalizer and propel Davis, whose head first outclassed Conforto’s shot into the third set.
With runners on the corners and an out, Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned right winger Mauricio Llovera (1-0). Triolo worked a full count walk to load the bases and Marcano hit a line drive down the middle for a sacrifice flight that scored Davis, who parried Matos’ throw, slipping past catcher Patrick Bailey and giving the Pirates a 4: 3 lead.
“Unfortunately, we fell short,” Hill said. “We have to start winning ball games. The urgency is something I keep expressing when I go to the pitch.”
Kevin Gorman is a Contributor to Tribune-Review. You can contact Kevin via email at [email protected] or via Twitter .