The Pirates' latest comeback win, this in a season that has not at all gone as planned, came with still more unpredictable twists.
John Jaso summed it up best, on and off the field.
"Yeah, how about that?," he said with a grin after his walkoff single in the 10th inning -- off New York reliever Josh Edgin, his first hit off a left-hander since May 6, 2016 -- upended the Mets, 5-4, in front of a paid crowd of 31,658 Saturday night at PNC Park.
Jaso did not start for a second consecutive day with Gregory Polanco back from the disabled list, and he wound up being the third pinch-hitter used by Hurdle. That's no surprise, given that he started the season 2 for 26. But he was batting .294 over his previous 13 games, and his bat was the difference with this game on the line.
Not once but twice.
His one-out single in the ninth tied the score, and he stepped to the plate with bases loaded and two outs in the 10th. He fouled off five two-strike pitches before lasering an 89-mph flat fastball to deep right field on the ninth pitch:
"What an impactful finish for John," Clint Hurdle said afterward.
"I thought the game should have ended a lot sooner, but glad we got the win and everything like that," Jaso said.
The Pirates, 23-27 and down 3 1/2 games in the Central Division, wouldn't have had a chance without Gerrit Cole "battling" through allowing a career-worst three home runs to strand three runners, and Andrew McCutchen going 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs out of his new No. 6 spot in the order.
Cole lasted just 4 2/3 innings in his previous start against the Braves, allowing five runs on 10 hits Monday night, and he was hit equally hard on this night: Jay Bruce hit a 423-foot solo shot over the Clemente Wall on a hanging 3-2 changeup in the first inning. Travis d'Arnaud hit one to center a first-pitch sinker in the fourth, and Lucas Duda added another in the sixth by driving a 96-mph rising fastball to the concourse beyond the right-center field wall for a 4-2 lead.
He has already allowed 12 home runs in 11 starts this season. His previous high was 11 in 32 starts in 2015.
