Worse than a three-hour delay? How about a ninth-inning loss in Atlanta?

ATLANTA — Jordy Mercer had no trouble describing what was one of the more memorable, yet frustrating games for the Pirates in 2017.

"The whole night stinks, to be honest with you," Mercer said after Matt Adams' walk-off single sent the Braves to a 6-5 victory over the Pirates at 1:52 a.m. Wednesday morning.

It was not the defeat that frustrated Mercer and the Pirates the most. There was a three hour and 12 minute rain delay at the end of the sixth inning, three lead changes in the final three innings and yet another game where the offense struggled to capitalize with runners on base.

The Pirates lost a lead, gained it back and lost it again to drop their record to 20-26, remaining 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers, and even Clint Hurdle had not seen anything quite like what unfolded over the six hours and 27 minutes from first pitch at SunTrust Park to Adams' hit.



"The game ended up all over the place and at the end of the day we were one run behind them," he told reporters afterward.

The final three innings were difficult for the Pirates' bullpen with Wade Leblanc, Felipe Rivero, Johnny Barbato and Tony Watson allowing four runs on six hits.

Leblanc surrendered the Pirates' one-run lead in the seventh after the delay ended at 12:51 a.m. They then regained the lead in the ninth with Mercer's two-out, two-run single to make it 5-4, but Watson allowed two runs in the bottom-half of the inning to cost the Pirates the second game of this four-game series.

But Hurdle was not upset with how the game ended or the long delay that left the Pirates looking lethargic once the seventh inning began. Instead, he was optimistic that his offense fought back against a bullpen that faced 56 consecutive batters without allowing a hit.

"We fight," Hurdle said. "We’ve continued to fight. We had a couple innings where we could have added on some runs tonight."

The Pirates stranded nine on base and were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position prior to the rain delay. Andrew McCutchen went 0-for-5 and is now batting .200 this season after stranding seven runners on base.

Entering Tuesday, the Pirates ranked 29th in Major League Baseball with a .226 batting average and 27th in runs. They also were batting just .228 with runners in scoring position. Frustration is mounting, and that was apparent in the first inning when Hurdle was ejected for a second consecutive night.

First, Josh Bell delivered this double down the left-field line to score Adam Frazier from third base for the 1-0 lead:



Francisco Cervelli then reached on an infield single before John Jaso followed with a slow roller down the third-base line. Bell tried to score from third on the play when this happened:



Bell avoided the tag from Kurt Suzuki, but was called out for leaving the baseline. Hurdle was infuriated with the call, later citing Josh Harrison's history of being ruled safe with similar acrobatic, yet more graceful base running plays.

This is what followed:



"I really had a problem understanding that one," he said.

Bench coach Tom Prince took over as acting manager, but it made little difference for the Pirates' offense. Jaso's two-out single off Braves starting pitcher R.A. Dickey in the third scored Bell before Alen Hanson grounded out to first to strand two runners on base.

The Pirates then stranded the bases loaded in the fourth when McCutchen grounded out to third base, and they were unable to capitalize on Jaso's two-out double in the fifth.

They were given a lift, though, by yet another strong pitching performance. Tyler Glasnow needed just 91 pitches to get through six innings, allowing two runs on nine hits despite not having a reliable breaking pitch.

Mercer gave the Pirates a lift in the sixth with his opposite field solo home run for a 3-1 lead. Adams answered with a solo home run in the bottom-half of the inning and the rain delay began once Glasnow got a double play to end the sixth.

The Pirates did not know how to prepare for such a long delay. Hurdle chatted with Neal Huntington and his father, Clinton. Mercer took a stroll around the visitors clubhouse before relaxing on a couch.

No one would say how frustrating the wait was, but it clearly got to the Pirates.

"Just sitting around for that long and playing into the night, and now the next morning, it's one of those things," Mercer said. "It stinks."

His opinion was shaped by the Braves quickly scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to retake the lead, but the ninth inning provided a silver lining for an otherwise dismal night.

Bell and Cervelli delivered back-to-back singles off Braves closer Josh Johnson. David Freese then drew a two-out walk and Mercer pulled a high curveball over the shortstop's head to score two runs for the lead.

The Braves quickly got to Watson in the bottom of the ninth. Nick Markakis tied it with a two-out double to score Ender Inciarte on a hit-and-run. Two batters later, Adams sprayed a sinker to left field to score the winning run:



It was an unusual loss and Mercer admitted it was emotionally draining one, as the Pirates squandered more opportunities at the plate.

"Those things have a way of biting you a little bit, but the fight was there," Hurdle said. "We’ll continue to play, we’ll continue to fight."