Bryan Reynolds homers twice, Pirates edge Athletics 6‑5
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Interstat) — Bryan Reynolds homered twice and drove in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from an early four-run deficit to beat the Athletics 6-5 on Tuesday night at Sutter Health Park.
Reynolds, who went 4-for-5, delivered the decisive blow in the seventh inning with a two-run homer to right field off Athletics reliever Elvis Alvarado, erasing a 5-5 tie and giving the Pirates their first lead of the game. The left fielder also led off the sixth inning with a solo homer to center field, part of a three-hit performance that sparked Pittsburgh’s comeback.
The Athletics jumped on Pirates starter Mitch Keller in the first inning, scoring four runs on three hits and three walks. Zack Gelof delivered the big blow with a bases-loaded single that scored Nick Kurtz, Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson, and a throwing error by first baseman Spencer Horwitz allowed Gelof to advance to second. Lawrence Butler followed with a double to left field, plating Gelof for a 4-0 Athletics lead.
Keller settled in after the first, allowing only one more hit through the next four innings while striking out seven. He left after 5 1/3 innings having allowed five hits and four earned runs.
Pittsburgh began its comeback in the fourth inning. Reynolds singled and Ryan O’Hearn singled to put runners at the corners, and Nick Gonzales grounded out to first base to score Reynolds and cut the deficit to 4-1.
The Pirates pulled within one in the sixth when Reynolds led off with his ninth homer of the season. O’Hearn doubled, and Endy Rodríguez singled to center field to score O’Hearn, making it 4-3.
The Athletics answered in the bottom of the sixth when Gelof led off with a solo homer to left field, his 10th of the season, pushing the lead to 5-3. But the Pirates responded again in the seventh.
After Horwitz walked with one out, Reynolds crushed a 1-1 pitch from Alvarado over the right-field wall for his second homer of the night and 10th of the season, giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead. O’Hearn followed with a single, but the inning ended on a flyout.
Brandon Lowe provided an insurance run in the ninth with a solo homer to right field, his 18th of the season, making it 6-4.
The Athletics threatened in the bottom of the ninth against Pirates closer Gregory Soto. Nick Kurtz singled and Shea Langeliers singled to put runners at first and second with one out. But Soto struck out Tyler Soderstrom and got Jacob Wilson to line out to right field to end the game. Soto earned his 11th save of the season.
Mason Montgomery pitched a scoreless sixth inning, striking out two, to earn the win and improve to 2-1. Alvarado was charged with the loss, falling to 2-1.
Evan Sisk and Soto each pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Pittsburgh, with Sisk allowing one hit and striking out two in the sixth and Soto striking out two in the ninth despite allowing two hits.
Gelof finished with two hits, including the homer, and four runs batted in for the Athletics. Lawrence Butler had a double and an RBI.
The Pirates outhit the Athletics 12-8. Pittsburgh improved to 37-37, while the Athletics fell to 36-37.
Attendance was 8,615, and the game lasted 2 hours, 59 minutes.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Athletics 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Athletics with a 51.30 percent probability to win. The Athletics had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over/under line of 10.5.