Pirates get big plays from rookies, including Endy Rodriguez's 1st homer, to shut out Angels

The Pittsburgh Pirates had to wonder which was more improbable about their performance against the Los Angeles Angels: striking out Shohei Ohtani three times or the big plays by their rookies?

Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero combined for a spectacular double play to prevent a run, Endy Rodriguez hit his first career home run, and pitchers Osvaldo Bido, Jose Hernandez and Carmen Mlodzinski delivered scoreless relief appearances to help combine for a shutout.

The Pirates had multiple pinch-me moments, including a hold-your-breath ending, in a 3-0 win Saturday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif., to even their three-game series.

Five Pirates pitchers combined for the seventh shutout of the season, with lefty Ryan Borucki serving as the opener in his first start since 2019 against an Angels lineup loaded with lefties at the top of the order.

Borucki started by striking out Luis Rengifo and Ohtani in a 1-2-3 first inning. Borucki hit leadoff batter Taylor Ward to start the second, then got Mike Moustakas to line out to center and Matt Thaiss looking at a 3-2 slider for a called strike before being replaced by Bido.

“I saw the string of lefties, so I knew it was a good pocket for me and it was a pocket for me if I was pitching in the first or pitching in the seventh or eighth,” Borucki said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “It was good situation for me with those hitters. I just had to execute those pitches.”

Ward stole second base, then advanced to third on a passed ball, but Bido got Hunter Renfroe to ground out to third to strand Ward at third base.

Bido escaped another jam in the fourth, when he gave up a leadoff single to Mickey Moniak, walked Ward on four pitches and surrendered a single to Moustakas. That’s when the Pirates got a big defensive play, as Thaiss lined out to second baseman Gonzales, who made a backhand flip to shortstop Peguero to force Ward out at second. Bido then got Renfroe to chase a slider low and away for a strikeout to escape unscathed.

“That’s the game right there, to get out of it,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “The thing that stands out is two young kids making a really heads-up play: Nick making the catch and making the flip, and Peggy’s moving that way right away, so that was outstanding.”

The Pirates (43-55) responded with a two-run fifth inning, when Connor Joe hit a one-out double to right and scored on a Bryan Reynolds single to right-center and Carlos Santana’s two-out double drove in Reynolds.

Angels lefty Reid Detmer allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts but threw 100 pitches in five innings. Gerardo Reyes replaced Detmer in the sixth, and Rodriguez hit a full-count slider 415 feet to right for his first major league homer and a 3-0 Pirates lead.

“That’s a moment we all dream of as a player,” Rodriguez said through interpreter Stephen Morales in an on-field interview on AT&T SportsNet. “The emotions are unexplainable. It feels pretty good.”

At 23 years and 57 days old, Rodriguez became the youngest Pirates catcher to hit a home run since Jason Kendall (23 years, 42 days) on Aug. 9, 1997, against the Florida Marlins. Rodriguez also is the fifth Pirates player to hit his first career homer this season, and joins Josh Palacios, Henry Davis and Gonzales as the fourth to do so since June 2.

“He’s going to hit,” Shelton said of Rodriguez. “I don’t think there’s any doubt, from the first time we saw him in spring training two years ago that this kid’s going to hit. The big leagues is hard. He’s making adjustments and he did a nice job. … To check that box off is just a little bit of a sigh of relief.”

Hernandez retired five batters, including Thaiss on a called third strike to start the seventh, before being replaced by Mlodzinski. Renfore hit a check-swing double down the right field line, but Mlodzinski got Trey Cabbage and Eduardo Escobar swinging to end the inning.

Mlodzinski pitched a scoreless eighth before giving way to All-Star closer David Bednar for the ninth. After walking Ward on four pitches, Bednar struck out Moustakas before hitting Thaiss with a pitch and loading the bases with a full count walk of Renfroe.

Before the last pitch, Rodriguez pumped up Bednar.

“All my confidence was with Bednar at that time,” Rodriguez said. “All I wanted was to give him that last punch to finish it.”

Bednar got Trey Cabbage to hit a comebacker for a 1-2-3 double play that forced out Ward at home plate and Rodriguez made the throw to get Cabbage out at first to end the game.

“That was a big spot to be in,” said Bednar, who earned his 19th save. “To get out of it and get a ‘W’ was big time.”