It was the Bryan Reynolds show Wednesday night at PNC Park. He made two diving catches in the field to help keep the Pirates in the game and eventually ended it with a walkoff single to beat the Marlins, 6-5.
He had ice in his veins, and thanks to Melky Cabrera's celebration, in his hair, too.
Be sure to feature this one in his final rookie of the year campaign dossier. The Pirates trailed most of the game, but they hung around long enough to, as Trevor Williams put it, "Let Bryan Reynolds do Bryan Reynolds things."
"Tonight was really everything that we were seeing all year really coming to manifestation," Williams said. " ... Defensively, with his arm, with his bat and being clutch at the end of the ballgame."
Well, that is not entirely true. This was his first walk-off hit. A new Bryan Reynolds thing, if you will.
"I always like to be in those situations," Reynolds said of batting in the clutch. "I've had it a few times this year. Haven't gotten the job done, so it's nice to finally get it done this time."
And he did it all manning center field, a position he had not played since June 16. Starling Marte was given a breather Wednesday, so Reynolds slid over to what he calls his "natural position."
"I've always had a lot of fun out there," Reynolds said. "You get truer reads on the ball and more chances to dive."
Reynolds had plenty of chances to dive. Once to his right ...
... and once to his left.
For the record, he said he preferred the catch to his right because he got to extend further.
Clint Hurdle offered a baseball adage to explain why he was so involved on defense: A guy moves to a new spot, the ball finds him. Those adages are around for a reason, you know.
On a night where the Pirates made miscues in the field and batted 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, Reynolds got his team back into the win column after a rough late loss the previous night to the National League's worst team.
"I feel like we've always been picking each other up," Reynolds said. "Something happens, the next guy up is gonna find a way to get the job done."
• Let's open the bullets with the Reynolds Watch for a change: A 2-for-5 day raised his average to .332, but league leader Anthony Rendon also went 2 for 5 for the Nationals, keeping his average at .338. The Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte went 3 for 4 and moved into third at .328.
• An unsung hero before the game-winning hit was Adam Frazier, who legged out a double on a sharp grounder through the left side of the infield to get into scoring position and then scored on the bloop hit, making an excellent read on the batted ball to score easily.
One night removed from Pablo Reyes being thrown out at the plate on an aggressive send in the ninth, it worked out this time.
"The play was there for him to make," Hurdle said on Frazier's trip around the basepaths. "It's an aggressive play, and we needed it to happen. He made it happen."
Frazier went 2 for 4 with a triple, double, RBI and a hit by pitch.
• Elias Diaz got the rally started in the ninth, going deep to right-center for just his second home run of the season.
"As good a swing as he's put on a ball in a long time," Hurdle said.
• Make that three quality starts in a row for Williams. He allowed three runs, two earned, over six innings. He surrendered seven hits, including a home run, but only walked one and struck out six.
He made a tweak to his delivery before this recent three-game surge. Wednesday was another example of executing what he had been working on.
"There's only a finite amount of starts left. We're gonna make them all count," Williams said.
"It wasn't his A game, but ... it's a solid B game," Hurdle said. "And we didn't help him."
• Speaking of not helping Williams: To put it politely, this was not the Pirates' best defensive effort of the season. Here is a quick rundown of some noteworthy plays:
First inning: Right fielder Jose Osuna turned a Starlin Castro bloop into a double after a failed dive. On the next pitch, Castro scored on a Garrett Cooper book-rule double.
Second: Osuna threw behind the runner instead of to the cutoff man on a Mangeuris Sierra single. Sierra took second as a result.
Fifth: Frazier delivered a low feed to Josh Bell. The throw was still airborne, but Bell could not catch it, resulting in a two base error charged to the first baseman. Castro immediately followed with a home run to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead.
The Pirates entered play with -42 defensive runs saved. According to FanGraphs, that is the second worst in the National League, behind only the Mets and their -80 DRS. Even with Reynolds' catches, Wednesday's performance will not help the cause.
Since the stat started being tracked in 2002, the only Pirates' defense with fewer defensive runs saved was the 2010 team with -81. The 2012 club also had -42 DRS.
• Kevin Newman came off the bench to pinch-hit in the sixth. He missed the previous three games with right hip discomfort.
• The paid attendance for this one was 9,043, 126 fewer than Tuesday's announced crowd. Again, it was the third-smallest crowd of the season.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Chris Archer (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Chris Stratton (10-day IL, right side inflammation)
• Yefry Ramirez (10-day IL, right calf strain)
• Gregory Polanco (60-day IL, shoulder)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, left on red)
Here's the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
There will be a rubber match Thursday to settle this series. Dario Agrazal (4-3, 4.50) will face Elieser Hernandez (3-5, 5.06), with first pitch coming at 7:05 p.m. I'll be here.
THE COVERAGE
All our baseball content, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, Indy Watch by Matt Welch, and Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, can be found on our Pirates page.
