Josh Bell's 3 RBIs lead Marlins past Pirates to clinch NL wild card playoff berth

The Pittsburgh Pirates might not be a good team by one manager’s definition, but they will spend the postseason in the same position as David Ross and the Chicago Cubs.

On the outside looking in.

Josh Bell continued to crush his former team, turning in a three-RBI performance to push the Miami Marlins into the playoffs in a 7-3 win over the Pirates on Saturday night before 25,030 at PNC Park to clinch an NL wild card berth.

Tanner Scott struck out the side in the ninth, getting Endy Rodriguez swinging at a full-count fastball to set off a celebration as catcher Jacob Stallings — another former Pirate — ran to the mound and wrapped the Marlins reliever in a bear hug.

That’s what Pirates manager Derek Shelton might call “unfortunate” for the Ross and the Cubs, as their NL Central Division rivals were eliminated from contention.

Following an 8-6 loss to the Pirates on Sept. 21 at Wrigley Field, Ross took a dig by saying the Pirates are “not a good team.” After taking two out of three games against the Cubs, Shelton called Ross’ comments “unfortunate.” The Marlins beat the Pirates, 4-3, on Friday night, so they needed only a win Saturday to clinch, regardless of how the Cubs fared against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

Bell, playing for his fourth team since being traded to Washington on Christmas Eve 2020, is batting .424 (25 for 59) with five doubles, four home runs and 16 RBIs in 17 games against the team that drafted him and where he spent his first five seasons in the majors. Bell has nine RBIs in five games at PNC Park this season, which he started with Cleveland before being traded to Miami.

“He had good at-bats. He’s a good player,” Shelton said. “He got the bat on the ball in a couple situations and he ended up scoring them runs.”

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Quinn Priester, who allowed four runs on 10 hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 5⅓ innings. Designated hitter Jorge Soler hit a leadoff double down the left field line, advanced to third on Bell’s single to short and scored on a single to right by Jazz Chisholm Jr.

The Pirates tied it in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of a throwing error by pitcher George Soriano. Rodriguez hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on Liover Peguero’s single to right and to third when Ji Hwan Bae grounded into a forceout at second. Nick Gonzales bunted down the first base line, but Soriano’s throw sailed past Bell at first base, allowing Rodriguez to score.

Chisholm sent Priester’s first-pitch fastball 380 feet to right for his 19th home run to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead with one out in the third. Shelton said it “didn’t look like it was a terrible pitch” by Priester, who has surrendered a dozen homers in 50 innings over his first 10 appearances in the majors.

“That’s a good hitter,” Shelton said. “Watching his reaction, I don’t think that he thought he got it. But he’s a good hitter and he backspun it out.”

Ke’Bryan Hayes doubled off the Clemente Wall to start the fifth then beat Chisholm’s throw to the plate on a two-out single to center by Rodriguez to tie it at 2-2.

The Marlins pulled ahead in the sixth when the Pirates rookie middle infielders made a pair of fundamental mistakes. Jon Berti drew a leadoff walk, then Hampson reached on a bunt to first when Jared Triolo fielded the ball but Gonzales failed to cover the base. After Stallings advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt to third, Dauri Moreta replaced Priester. Berti scored the go-ahead run when Soler hit a sharp grounder to short but Peguero had to shuffle his feet before making a short-hop throw to the plate. Bell followed with a sacrifice fly to score Hampson for a 4-2 Marlins lead.

The Marlins had their own mishap in the seventh, when Bell chased a Hayes pop fly into foul territory only to watch it drop between three defenders. Hayes drilled Matt Moore’s next pitch for a double down the right field line. Moore then hit Henry Davis with a pitch but got Rodriguez to ground out to third to end the inning.

Bell hit a two-out, two-run double off lefty Jose Hernandez to the North Side Notch in the seventh, giving the Marlins a 6-2 lead.

The Pirates rallied with two outs in the eighth to cut it to 6-3. Gonzales drew a walk, advanced to third on a single to right by Triolo and scored on a Reynolds single to right. The Marlins turned to Tanner Scott, who got Hayes to ground out to third to strand two runners.

Chisholm doubled to right off Cody Bolton to lead off the ninth, then scored on a single by De La Cruz to increase the Marlins’ lead to 7-3.

“We’ve gone through some amazing spurts here where we’re winning a lot of games and playing really well as a team. That’s really what’s motivating me,” Priester said. “Seeing Miami celebrate on the field, that’s really, really motivating to me.”