Nick Gonzales aimed for a powerful hit as he took the bat to the ball. The second baseman for the Pirates was aware that José Alvarado could hit for three runs, but he also had that cutter, which could tail away from right-handers and hit where he wanted to.
Gonzales remarked, “I was just trying to get something a little away from me, and I just hit it hard.”
In the ninth inning on Friday, Gonzales got a hold of Alvarado’s first-pitch cutter and sent most of the PNC Park crowd home with a base hit through the left side of the infield. Gonzales’ single gave the Pirates their first and only lead of the game after they had been behind for the majority of the game. The Pirates went on to win 8–7 against the Phillies.
There were signs on Friday night that this squad might be taken by surprise after the All-Star break. Martín Pérez, the starter, was removed from the game in the fourth inning after giving up six runs in the game. His poor play continued. The baseball team with the best record was taking on the Pirates. They spent most of the evening performing from behind.
Nevertheless, Gonzales and his colleagues were the ones having fun after the game on the right side of the diamond.
“I think it would’ve been really easy to fold after the first inning, especially going against the Phillies,” Gonzales stated. “But nobody here in the dugout, nobody in this clubhouse, did that. So kudos to them. And kudos to the coaching staff, too.”
Pérez faced the whole Phillies lineup in the first inning, which was maybe his worst, giving up three runs before loading the bases. Oneil Cruz immediately responded for the offense against Aaron Nola, hitting an RBI double with an exit velocity of 120.5 mph, the second-hardest hit ball for him this season in all of Major League Baseball. Later on, he would return home on a sacrifice fly hit by Rowdy Tellez, the first of three that Tellez would hit and set a record for the Pirates in a single game.
With the score tied at six, in the ninth inning, Connor Joe reached base on a single through the left side of the infield, moving Michael A. Taylor to pinch run, setting up the game’s biggest wager. Coach Tarrik Brock of first base saw a chance to run, and with two on and no one out, Andrew McCutchen and Taylor executed a double steal to advance the tying run ninety feet.
“We took a good chance in a situation where we thought we were going to take a chance,” manager Derek Shelton said.
Cruz then hit a ball off home plate for a fielder’s choice that tied the game, and Gonzales won it with a line drive to left on the next pitch.
Shelton remarked, “To come out and play as complete a game as we did and do all the little things we needed to do, yeah, I was really excited about how they responded.”
It’s only one victory, but considering the season’s circumstances, it might be greater. The Pirates have a 49-48 record and are once again above 500. They started winning before the All-Star break and have already won five straight. With just nine games remaining before the July 30 trade deadline, the team is looking to add players, but each victory helps to strengthen their argument for being aggressive. This is also the season’s hardest stretch, the first of nine series against winning clubs vying for a postseason berth.
The clubhouse’s objective has been to make the playoffs the entire year. The Pirates believe they are making progress in that direction right now.
“We talk about it a lot,” Tellez stated. “We’ve had a couple guys in here win some World Series. With Milwaukee, we made it to the playoffs every year. Younger players, when they ask questions and want to talk through it, I always say, ‘There’s nothing more driving than getting to the playoffs.’ Once you’re there, that’s all you want the next year, over and over again. For a lot of us, when we talk about that kind of stuff, it resonates with guys. We’re in a good spot. But just talking it game-by-game.”