Behind Bryan Reynolds 'Matrix' slide, Pirates get call at plate to beat Braves for series split

Bryan Reynolds lost the fly ball in the sky and got a bad jump from third base, so he “turned on the burners” before making what the Pittsburgh Pirates are calling “The Matrix” slide.

A day after losing to the Atlanta Braves on a contested play at the plate, the Pirates won the challenge on a call to spark a comeback when Reynolds slid around catcher Travis d’Arnaud’s tag and tapped home plate with his hand in a three-run third inning.

This time, after being called out, the Pirates won a challenge.

Behind Reynolds’ slide, three RBIs from Ke’Bryan Hayes and four scoreless innings from right-handed reliever Thomas Hatch, the Pirates rallied from a four-run deficit for a 7-5 win to salvage a four-game series split Thursday afternoon before 16,550 at PNC Park.

“That’s about as textbook of a slide as you could have,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It gave us a ton (of momentum). … That was huge.”

Hayes, who went 7 for 15 with nine RBIs over the past three games, became the first Pirates player since Jason Bay (May 24-47, 2006) to have three or more RBIs in three consecutive games.

“When we see Key on time, we see him have the ability to get the ball in the air and drive the ball and we saw that,” Shelton said. “We’ve seen that over the last three days. It looks like he’s on time, he’s healthy, he’s able to rotate so. Just really good at-bats.”

Hatch (1-0) made his Pirates debut after being claimed off waivers from Toronto and earned his first win since Sept. 6, 2020, at Boston. He fared far better than lefty starter Bailey Falter, making his home debut for the Pirates after being acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies for infielder Rodolfo Castro at the trade deadline.

The Braves (72-41) entered the game with baseball’s best record and an MLB-leading .881 OPS against left-handed pitchers and tagged Falter for four runs on eight hits and two walks in four innings.

Atlanta wasted no time jumping out to a lead. In the first inning, Ozzie Albies singled to right, stole second base and scored on Austin Riley’s single to left field to make it 1-0. Orlando Arcia made it 2-0 with a leadoff home run in the second, driving Falter’s 2-2 fastball 407 feet into the bullpen in left field for his 13th home run.

In the third, Matt Olson launched a full-count fastball 427 feet to straightaway center for his career-best 40th home run to give the Braves a 3-0 lead. Then d’Arnaud followed with a single and scored on Marcell Ozuna’s double to the left-center gap to make it 4-0.

The Pirates rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third, when Braves starter Bryce Elder loaded the bases by giving up a single to Jason Delay, hitting Josh Palacios with a pitch and walking Reynolds. Hayes hit a bases-loaded single to score Delay and Palacios to cut it to 4-2, setting up a contested play at the plate for the second consecutive game.

The Braves won 6-5 on Wednesday night when Michael Harris II tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly by Austin Riley in shallow right field in the eighth inning. Harris beat Jared Triolo’s throw to the plate but was called out on appeal after the Pirates contested that he left early. That call was overturned upon review.

Reynolds attempted to score on an Alfonso Rivas flyout to left but was called out by home plate umpire Alan Porter. The Pirates challenged the call, and replays showed Reynolds evaded d’Arnaud by sliding to the outside of the plate and tapping his hand before d’Arnaud could tag him.

“I saw him dive and saw a little spot,” Reynolds said, “so I smacked my hand in there.”

After a lengthy review, it was overturned. Reynolds’ run cut the Braves lead to 4-3.

“I knew I was safe,” Reynolds said. “Then you saw the video, and it was obvious I was safe. They still took awhile. You just never know.”

The Pirates took the lead with a two-run sixth, thanks to two rookies and a pair of second-year players. Henry Davis singled, advanced to third on Jack Suwinski’s double to left-center and scored on Liover Peguero’s single to center to tie the score. Suwinski scored on Delay’s groundout to third for a 5-4 lead.

Reynolds singled off Braves lefty Brad Hand to start the seventh and scored when Hayes hit a shot to the right-center gap past a diving Harris for a triple to make it 6-4. Peguero singled through the middle to score Hayes for a 7-4 lead. Hand hit Triolo with a pitch to load the bases but escaped by getting Delay to fly out to the warning track in left.

After Hatch kept the Braves scoreless through the eighth inning, the Braves cut it to 7-5 in the ninth against Colin Holderman when Harris hit a leadoff single and stole second, then scored on Acuna’s single to center. Holderman answered by striking out Albies, Riley and Olson in order, the latter on a called third strike to end the game.

“We’re playing good baseball right now,” Reynolds said. “We’re hitting. We’re scoring runs and having clutch hitting. We’re pitching. The Braves are probably the best team in baseball. We gave ’em all they wanted this series. It was good to get this one and even it out.”