Pirates rally from 9-run deficit for incredible comeback win over Reds

On the day they were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled off the greatest comeback in franchise history.

The Pirates rallied from a nine-run deficit with an offensive outburst, then had to withstand the theatrics of the crowd of 29,680 at Great American Ball Park on its feet and cheering for the Cincinnati Reds to make a comeback as they chase a wild-card playoff spot.

With the tying run at third base, Pirates rookie reliever Carmen Mlodzinski recorded the final two outs to earn his first career save and clinch a 13-12 victory Saturday night in their most dramatic road win of the season.

The Reds had built a 9-0 lead through the first three innings before their bullpen blew it as the Pirates got all 16 hits over the final six innings. The rally started with the Pirates scoring five runs in the sixth, when Bryan Reynolds hit a pivotal three-run home run, and they added three more runs in the seventh and four in the eighth.

In 137 seasons, the Pirates had never overcome a 9-0 deficit to win.

“Wow, that was impressive,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “They just kept going. We got down 9-0, and they just continued to grind. I don’t really know what to say because there were so many guys that contributed to do so many things. They just kept playing. It was fun.”

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According to the Pirates, entering Saturday’s games, teams were 205-0 this season when leading by nine or more runs. The Reds had won 111 straight games in which they led by nine or more runs. The Pirates were 0-819 when trailing by nine or more runs.

The game looked like a blowout after a disastrous three innings, when the Pirates looked like they couldn’t do anything right. The Reds got back-to-back home runs against starter Bailey Falter in the first inning, when Christian Encarnacion-Strand sent a 2-2 curveball high and outside 385 feet to right for a two-run shot and Tyler Stephenson drilled a belt-high slider to left to make it 3-0.

The second inning was a spectacle from the start for the Pirates. TJ Friedl hit a sharp grounder to the right-field corner that pinballed past Joshua Palacios, whose fumbling of the ball allowed Friedl to score on an inside-the park home run.

It was the seventh inside-the-park homer at Great American Ball Park, and the third involving the Pirates. Cincinnati’s Chris Heisey hit one off Wandy Rodriguez on Aug. 3, 2012, and the Pirates’ Jordy Mercer hit one off Greg Reynolds on Sept. 29, 2013.

After Falter got Stuart Fairchild to line out to short, the next seven batters reached base. Elly De La Cruz singled, stole second and third and scored when Nick Senzel grounded into a forceout. Encarnacion-Strand singled to score Senzel, and Stephenson followed with a two-run double to make it 8-0.

Where Reds righty Connor Phillips struck out six of the first eight batters he faced in the first two innings, Falter gave up eight runs on nine hits with one walk and one strikeout. The Reds added another against Kyle Nicolas in the third, when Fairchild hit a leadoff double and scored on a double by Spencer Steer for a 9-0 lead.

The Pirates finally scored in the fourth, when Jack Suwinski drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a single by rookie Jared Triolo and scored on a bloop single to shallow left by Alfonso Rivas, who went 3 for 5 with five RBIs.

The momentum shifted in the sixth, which started with singles by Triolo and Endy Rodriguez. The Reds replaced Phillips with lefty Alex Young, but Rivas advanced both runners with a groundout to first and Ji Hwan Bae followed with an RBI single to score Triolo.

“When we started scoring runs, it kind of started snowballing after that,” said Triolo, who went 4 for 5 with three runs scored. “It’s contagious. One guy gets a hit and the next guy gets a hit, and it keeps the line moving and scores runs.”

When Palacios hit a two-out single to right to drive in Rodriguez and cut it to 9-3, Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines felt the tide turn.

“It’s funny because Haines was standing right next to me and he goes, ‘If he hits a homer, this is going to get real,’ ” Shelton said. “He hit a homer, and it got real.”

Reynolds took advantage of Cincinnati’s bandbox dimensions, sending Young’s 1-1 sinker 350 feet to right for his 23rd homer to cut it to 9-6.

“We started having good at-bats and kept passing it back to the next guy and kept going from there,” Reynolds said. “I was just trying to shoot something into right to get Ke’ up and to keep it moving. I got lucky and put one up in a little, tiny ballpark and it snuck out.”

The Pirates got a boost from the latest addition to their bullpen. Dauri Moreta, recalled Friday from Triple-A Indianapolis, recorded three strikeouts in 2 2/3 perfect innings to silence the Reds’ bats.

The Pirates tied it in the seventh, when they loaded the bases against Fernando Cruz as Suwinski singled, Triolo doubled and Bae drew a walk. The Reds turned to Lucas Sims, and Rivas worked a full count before sending a slider to right for a bases-clearing double.

“It’s unbelievable,” Rivas said in an on-field interview with AT&T SportsNet. “We were down 9-0, 9-1 and we just started chipping away little by little, having good at-bat after good at-bat. I’m so proud of this team.”

But the big break came against Reds All-Star closer Alexis Diaz in the eighth, when the Pirates scored four runs to take a commanding lead.

It started with Diaz hitting Reynolds in the left foot with a pitch and giving up a single to Hayes. Suwinski followed with an RBI single to score Reynolds for the go-ahead run.

Hayes was thrown out at home by Fairchild on Triolo’s single to right, and Rodriguez hit a pop fly to De La Cruz in shallow center, but Rivas hit a two-out single to right to score Suwinski and Bae doubled to drive in Triolo and Rivas for a 13-9 lead.

“You’re talking about a guy who’s an elite back-end pitcher in Diaz,” Shelton said. “We just continued to grind. We stayed aggressive throughout the entire innning.”

The Reds responded with a rally of their own in the bottom of the eighth.

De La Cruz drew a leadoff walk, reached third on a single by Jonathan India — the Reds’ first hit since the third inning — and scored when pinch hitter Nick Martini grounded into a forceout at second to cut it to 13-10. Steer beat the throw on a grounder to third, and Encarnacion-Strand singled to center to score Martini to make it a two-run game.

But Bae made a sliding backhand stop on Stephenson’s grounder up the middle, stepped on second and turned a double play to prevent a run and end the inning. Ian Gibault retired the Pirates in order in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.

“I thought it was a really cool game, seeing the offense come back like that,” Mlodzinski said. “Full kudos to the offense for giving us a chance to win the game in the end. I thought our entire bullpen just chipped away. We had to go into the game in the third inning then just kept picking up the next guy, handing the ball off to the next guy and to the next guy. I thought it was really special.”

With All-Star closer David Bednar having pitched the previous two nights, Mlodzinski entered a pressure-packed situation in the ninth. The Reds countered by having Joey Votto pinch-hit, and the six-time All-Star and 2010 NL MVP singled to right. Friedl followed with a double down the right-field line to put runners on second and third with no outs.

“I just put my head down and got to work,” Mlodzinski said. “I didn’t overthink anything and was able to execute pitches with Endy back there.”

Pinch hitter Jake Fraley drove in Votto with a groundout to second to cut it to 13-12. But Mlodzinski won an 11-pitch at bat against De La Cruz by getting him to chase a sweeper inside and got India to fly out to Suwinski in center for the final out to clinch the historic win.

“Walk-offs at home are really special,” Shelton said, “but for this group this late in the year, to do that, yeah, this ranks right at the top.”