After smoke delay, Pirates rally from 4-run deficit to beat Padres, sweep series

A game that started in a smoke delay ended with the Pittsburgh Pirates bringing out their brooms — after choking on some curse words.

The start of the game was delayed 45 minutes after Pirates players complained about concerns over an unhealthy air quality index, as a haze of smoke hung over the city for the second consecutive day.

The Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit, scoring three runs in the seventh inning for a 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday afternoon before 16,871 at PNC Park to sweep the three-game series.

It came down to rookie third baseman Jared Triolo making All-Star closer David Bednar eat crow by scooping Manny Machado’s grounder and throwing him out for the final out.

“It was really impressive,” said Bednar, who admitted that his initial reaction was to swear. “I was like, ‘Damn, he’s gonna beat it.’ And then after (the umpire) called him out, (Triolo) goes, ‘You trust me?’ That was an awesome play. Watching him just be comfortable over there and making all the plays, it’s cool to watch guys make their debut and be able to step up and contribute, and we’ve had quite a few guys come up and do that.”

Triolo went 2 for 3, scoring the tying run on a throwing error, and Pirates rookie right fielder Henry Davis went 3 for 4 with a pair of RBI singles, including one to drive in the winning run.

Triolo has made a strong first impression in replacing the injured Ke’Bryan Hayes (low back inflammation) — one of baseball’s best defenders, regardless of position — with his play at the hot corner.

“I think you guys all know how I feel about the guy who plays third base every day for us, but when you have a guy that you call up that’s that elite of a defender, that’s not an easy play,” Shelton said of Triolo, who won a minor league Gold Glove. “It’s definitely not an easy play for a guy that’s playing in his second game with the game on the line and he did a really nice job.”

For the second consecutive game, the Pirates (38-42) overcame a strong start from their opponent. Right-hander Joe Musgrove held the Pirates to two runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out six in six innings, only to see the Padres (37-44) lose their fifth consecutive game.

Pirates starter Luis Ortiz allowed four runs on six hits, including a pair of home runs, and three walks without a strikeout in 4 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old right-hander had given up more than two runs only once in his past five starts, when he allowed four runs on six hits in an 11-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on June 13.

The Pirates bullpen, however, came through with four-plus scoreless innings after escaping jams with the bases loaded in the fifth and a runner in scoring position in the eighth.

Ortiz got through the Padres lineup on six pitches in the first inning but encountered trouble in the second. Jake Cronenworth singled, reached third on Roughned Odor’s single to center and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Ha-Seong Kim for a 1-0 lead. Trent Grisham then hit Ortiz’s 2-0, 95.2-mph fastball 419 feet into the right-field seats for a two-run home run to give the Padres a 3-0 advantage.

Ortiz surrendered another homer in the fourth, this one a solo shot by Kim on a 2-2, 97.3-mph fastball that sailed 397 feet and into the left-field bleachers for 4-0 Padres lead.

The Pirates cut it to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, when Davis hit a leadoff single to left, advanced to third on Carlos Santana’s double to right and scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales.

Ortiz left with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, after sandwiching walks to Juan Soto and Cronenworth around a Xander Bogaerts single. Lefty Ryan Borucki replaced Ortiz and got pinch hitter Brandon Dixon to fly out to center to leave the runners stranded. Borucki then retired the side in order in the sixth.

Andrew McCutchen led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to left and scored on Davis’ single down the left-field line to cut it to 4-2.

The Pirates took advantage when the Padres turned to lefty reliever Tim Hill, as pinch hitter Rodolfo Castro drew a leadoff walk and Triolo worked an eight-pitch at-bat for a single to center. With runners on second and third, Suwinski hit a dribbler down the first-base line that scored Castro. Hill barehanded the ball but spun and threw into foul territory, an error that allowed Triolo to score the tying run.

Padres manager Bob Melvin turned to righty Luis Garcia, who gave up a two-out bloop single to right by Davis that allowed Jack Suwinski to score from second for a 5-4 lead.

“Being down four to nothing and continuing to claw back in the game,” Shelton said. “As we’ve talked about numerous times, you don’t have to hit the ball far sometimes; you just have to put it in play.”

Pirates lefty Angel Perdomo struck out Cronenworth and Dixon to start the eighth but when Kim lined a two-out double to left, Shelton turned to David Bednar. The All-Star closer got Grisham swinging at a curveball for a strikeout to end the scoring threat.

“David’s our best, and we decided that this was the time we were going to fire him for four outs,” Shelton said. “It was the biggest leverage, and we wanted our best pitcher on the field.”

In the ninth, Bednar put the tying run on base when he walked pinch hitter Gary Sanchez but responded by striking out Fernando Tatis and Soto before getting Machado to ground out to third to earn his 16th save.

“It was huge, coming off of the past week or so, to get that spark and get us rolling in the right direction is big time,” Bednar said, “and this is a big statement game for us again.”