Pirates get timely hitting, quality start from Paul Skenes to end losing streak

The Pittsburgh Pirates had hit rock bottom, so it only made sense that the bottom of their batting order provided the spark in ending their 10-game losing streak.

Yasmani Grandal hit a solo home run, and Michael A. Taylor’s baserunning put him in position to score the go-ahead run on an Andrew McCutchen sacrifice fly in a fifth-inning rally.

But it was a two-run double by Oneil Cruz in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference, as the Pirates ended their worst stretch of the season by beating the Seattle Mariners, 5-3, on Friday night before 27,058 at PNC Park.

“This was a team win,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We did a good job throughout the game and … we got a big hit. And we have not gotten those, so it is a little bit of a sigh of relief.”

It didn’t come without some drama, of course, as closer David Bednar gave up a home run and a single in a hold-your-breath ninth before striking out the final three batters to earn his 21st save.

It marked the first victory by the Pirates (57-64) since a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 3, a span that started with a home loss to the Diamondbacks followed by successive three-game sweeps by the San Diego Padres sandwiched around one at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Five of the Pirates’ defeats during the losing streak came by one run.

Whether the win came at a cost remains to be seen, as McCutchen (left knee) and Cruz (left ankle) were both removed from the game due to discomfort on the bases after their seventh-inning hits. Shelton said running “has been an issue” for McCutchen, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games, “and it looks like it locked up on it there.”

Pirates rookie right-hander Paul Skenes (7-2) recorded his 12th quality start, allowing two runs on a Luke Raley home run, giving up three hits and a career-high four walks with six strikeouts in six innings.

“He grinded through it,” Shelton said. “Four walks, we haven’t seen that out of him. It didn’t look like he was in sync with his delivery throughout the entire game, and he was still able to give us a good start and give us a chance to win and he got the win. Overall, it’s impressive.

“I think all of us get enamored with how good he is and then he has a start like this where his delivery is not in sync, and he walks and everybody thinks it’s Armageddon. He’s a major-league pitcher that is dealing with things, and we saw a major-league pitcher deal with something and still give us a chance to win, which I give him credit for.”

As Skenes struggled to throw his offspeed pitches for strikes, he leaned more heavily on his four-seam fastball and curveball until he could locate his splinker and changeup in the strike zone.

Skenes threw his heater on 45 of his 93 pitches, generating 12 fouls, nine called strikes and three whiffs with the pitch despite his velocity never touching triple digits for the fourth consecutive game. Skenes, who has pitched 98 innings in 16 starts, dismissed the idea that fatigue is a factor.

“Call it what you will. This is my first time pitching in August,” Skenes said. “I don’t pay too much attention to that. I more so pay attention to whether I’m able to hold my velo over the course of an outing. The 100s are sexy, but executing whatever velo is the big thing. It is what it is. Just have to keep competing.”

After three scoreless innings, Mariners second baseman Jorge Polanco drew a full-count walk to lead off the fourth before Luke Raley smashed Skenes’ 3-1 fastball 412 feet to right-center for his 15th home run and a 2-0 Mariners lead.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the fourth, as Bryan Reynolds drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on an Cruz groundout and scored on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s double to left to cut it to 2-1. Kiner-Falefa reached third on a Rowdy Tellez groundout but was stranded when Bryan De La Cruz grounded out to short.

Seattle starter Logan Gilbert (7-9), who struck out the first four batters he faced, gave up four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks. The Mariners committed three errors, one of which put Taylor in position to score the go-ahead run.

Grandal tied the score in the fifth when he sent Gilbert’s first-pitch fastball 404 feet to the right-field seats for a solo homer. Taylor followed with a single to left, then stole second, advanced to third on catcher Cal Raleigh’s throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by McCutchen for a 3-2 lead.

“Obviously, it always feels good to put your team back in the game,” said Grandal, who is batting .318 (7 for 22) this month. “We were able to start getting guys on base, and we were able to get Mike in after that big two-run homer from Raley. Us being able to take the lead the next inning or so kind of changed the momentum back towards our side. That’s all you’re trying to do is just grab the momentum later in the game. That’s how you end up on top.”

Skenes gave up a double to Julio Rodriguez, then walked Raley to put runners on first and third with one out in the sixth but escaped by getting Dominic Canzone to ground into a 6-3 double play.

Taylor drew a one-out walk in the seventh, then went to third on a single down the left field line by McCutchen, who was replaced by pinch runner Ji Hwan Bae. Cruz hit a line drive to right that glanced off the glove hand of a diving Canzone, scoring both runners for a 5-2 edge.

“We got the big hit we’ve been looking for — a couple of big hits we’ve been looking for,” Shelton said. “Oneil’s definitely was a big two-out hit there. We have not gotten that over the last 10 days.”

The Pirates got scoreless innings from relievers Kyle Nicolas in the seventh and Aroldis Chapman against the heart of the Mariners’ order in the eighth before Bednar served up a leadoff solo homer to Jorge Polanco to make it 5-3 in the ninth. Raley followed with a single to right, but Bednar recovered to strike out Canzone and pinch hitters Mitch Haniger and Justin Turner to end the game.

“It’s been tough. It’s definitely been tough,” Grandal said. “A lot of close games. A lot of games I feel like could’ve gone the other way. You never know where we’d be right now. You can’t really think about the 10 games you just lost. You’ve got to move on. You’ve got to turn the page. If you concentrate on that then you’re just gonna keep going down in a spiral that you’re never gonna be able to get out of. We won today.”