The Pittsburgh Pirates won on Opening Day in extra innings, thanks to a hit by a player in his first season opener and a save by a pitcher who wasn’t originally on the active roster.
Jared Triolo singled to bring in the winning run in the 12th inning, and left-handed Jose Hernandez closed out the Miami Marlins for a 6-5 victory in the season opener on Thursday at loanDepot Park.
Triolo achieved his heroics with two outs in the 12th. With Ke’Bryan Hayes at second base and Oneil Cruz at first after being intentionally walked, Triolo hit a bloop single to right field to score Hayes for the go-ahead run. Shortstop Tim Anderson cut off the throw to the plate with Triolo caught between first and second, but turned to throw Cruz out at home to end the rally.
Hernandez, included in the Opening Day roster only after Roansy Contreras was placed on the MLB paternity leave list, earned his first career save by getting the final three outs.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller, who signed a $77 million contract extension on Feb. 23, allowed five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out three on 85 pitches in 5 2/3 innings.
The Pirates came back with home runs by Bryan Reynolds, Edward Olivares, and Oneil Cruz to send the game into extra innings.
The Marlins scored two runs off Keller in the second inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. fouled off three pitches with a full count before drawing a leadoff walk, advanced to third on Jake Burger’s single to center and scored on a grounder to short by Jesus Sanchez for a 1-0 lead.
Pirates shortstop Cruz fielded Sanchez’s grounder and fed Triolo at second base, but Triolo lost the ball during the transfer while trying to turn a double play and both runners were safe. Anderson followed with a double to the right-field corner to score Burger and make it 2-0.
The Pirates tied it up in the third, when Connor Joe drew a one-out walk and Reynolds hit a 2-1 sinker 406 feet to left-center for the first home run of the season.
Miami scored two more in the third for a 4-2 lead, as the Pirates failed to turn another double play. After a Josh Bell leadoff single, Bryan De La Cruz hit a comebacker to Keller but his throw to second for the forceout pulled Triolo off the bag and prevented him from turning two.
Chisholm doubled to put runners on second and third, and Burger followed with a two-run single to left as Chisholm beat Reynolds’ throw from left and slid past catcher Henry Davis’ attempt to tag him at the plate.
Burger drove in another run for the Marlins for a 5-2 lead in the fifth. Bell drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a single by De La Cruz and to third when Chisholm flied out to right and scored on Burger’s sacrifice fly to left.
Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo left after striking out eight and throwing 85 pitches in five innings, and the Pirates loaded the bases against righty George Soriano as Reynolds drew a leadoff walk, Hayes singled to center, and Davis beat the throw on a roller to short. The Marlins turned to lefty Andrew Nardi, who got Cruz and Triolo looking at called third strikes to escape unscathed.
The Pirates' manager, Derek Shelton, had Edward Olivares, who hits from the right side and was acquired from Kansas City in the offseason, come in to bat for the left-handed Rowdy Tellez to face Nardi in the seventh inning. In his first game with the Pirates, Olivares hit a home run by driving a 0-1 four-seam fastball 413 feet to left-center, reducing the score to 5-3.
It was the third time that Olivares hit a home run as a pinch-hitter, making him the third Pirate to achieve this on Opening Day. The others were Nate McLouth in 2007 and John Vander Wal in 2000, who also hit a pinch-hit homer during their Pirates debut. Olivares became the first player to hit a home run in his Pirates debut since Hayes on Sept. 1, 2020, when the team played the Chicago Cubs.
After Taylor singled to center, the Marlins replaced Nardi with Anthony Bender. Reynolds hit a double with one out that bounced over the right-field fence, putting runners on second and third base, before Hayes drew a walk to load the bases for Andrew McCutchen.
McCutchen, who was one home run away from his 300th career homer, hit a ground ball to short that allowed Taylor to score, reducing the deficit to 5-4. However, Bender struck out Davis with a 2-2 sinker to end the rally.
Cruz hit a home run to tie the score at 5-5 in the eighth inning by hitting a 384-foot opposite-field blast off a 96-mph fastball from Sixto Sanchez on the outside corner. This marked his second consecutive Opening Day with a home run. He hit a solo home run in the 5-4 win against Cincinnati last year, making him the fifth player in team history to accomplish this feat.
The Pirates had an opportunity to score in the ninth inning against left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott. Joe and Hayes both received walks, but McCutchen struck out looking on a full-count slider at the bottom of the strike zone. Davis worked a full count before hitting a line drive that was caught by Burger at third base.
The Pirates had two runners thrown out at home plate by Bell in extra innings. In the 10th inning, Davis was on second base as the automatic runner and tried to score when Burger’s throw from third to first skipped past Bell. However, Bell's throw to the plate beat Davis, who was caught between the bases and tagged out.
Taylor began the 11th inning at second base as the automatic runner and advanced to third on Joe’s groundout to second, but was thrown out at home when Reynolds hit a grounder to Bell, who made another perfect throw to catcher Nick Fortes at the plate.
In the bottom of the 10th, with De La Cruz on second, the Pirates intentionally walked Chisholm to set up a double play. This worked out when Burger hit a grounder to second, and Joe stretched to catch Cruz's low and wide throw, allowing a double play.
Ortiz escaped trouble in the bottom of the 11th. After intentionally walking Vidal Brujan to put runners on the corners with one out, he got pinch hitter Jonah Bride to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
