Stallings continues walk-off magic at PNC Park taken at PNC Park (Pirates)

JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY

Jacob Stallings celebrates his walk-off homer Saturday night at PNC Park.

It took some extraordinary circumstances for Derek Shelton to find out the result of Saturday night’s Pirates game from stadium security in the clubhouse.

The skipper was banished for arguing balls and strikes in the eighth inning, which made him the last to know about Jacob Stallings’ walk-off homer to bring the Pirates an 8-6 victory against San Francisco at PNC Park. It was the second night in a row the Bucs came back to walk off the Giants.

“It was a crazy game. Obviously coming off that big win last night, I think that’s probably more pumped up than I usually get, more emotional than I usually get,” Stallings said, recalling Friday night’s 3-2, extra-inning, walk-off victory on Gregory Polanco’s sacrifice fly. “It’s just that kind of game. A lot of big pitches by our pitchers. Big swings by our guys.”

That’s now three wins in the past five games against really talented teams in the Giants and Reds to move to 17-22 on the season. San Francisco held leads of 4-0 and 6-2 throughout the game, but Stallings led two separate comebacks before icing the victory with his third blast of the year. The homer was one of three hits for Stallings during his career-best four-RBI night, as he also delivered a two-run double to tie the game in the seventh inning. So far this season, he’s batting .255 with an .820 OPS.

Since it was brought up in Chicago, expect to see many references back to a “come to Jesus” moment that Stallings described that came from a conversation with Rick Eckstein after the Pirates concluded a series in Minnesota at the end of April.

Stallings had finished that series against the Twins in an 0-for-19 skid. He said earlier this week that he and Eckstein had gone back and looked at old clips of what was working for him when things were going well in the past. They noticed some timing cues that could be adjusted, and got his body back in a better rhythm for his swing.

Since that series in Minnesota, Stallings is 13-for-44 (.295) during a stretch in which he’s accounted for all three of his homers and more than half of his total RBIs.

“If I’m being honest, a lot of our talk was on the mental side, kind of getting my mind right. But from a physical standpoint, just my posture when I get ready to hit,” Stallings said, explaining that he needed to find the proper way to sink into his load. “We made one small adjustment that I haven’t done before just with my back foot. I feel like that’s helped me a lot since that day. It’s just positioning and doing what I can to get ready, in the best position and on time.”

Although he wasn’t involved in the conversation, Shelton has noticed that Stallings is hitting the ball much harder than in the past. The numbers back up Shelton’s theory as his current .449 slugging percentage is more than 60 points greater than his previous high in 2019 (.382).

“I think he’s taking really aggressive swings all the time, where at times I think before, it was just contact,” Shelton said. “I think he’s trying to do damage. He’s trying to impact the baseball on every swing, and I think we’re seeing the results of it.”

The day couldn’t have ended much better for Stallings, whose two walk-off homers are as many as any other catcher in Pirates history. But there’s something noticeably different about how he performs at PNC Park.

A 31-year-old father of two, Stallings grinned when asked about what’s different for him at his home stadium. While pandemic restrictions are slowly being peeled away as the season marches on, families still are not able to travel with the players. 

Returning to Pittsburgh gives him a chance to sleep in his own bed and spend time with his wife and sons, which generally puts him in a better frame of mind when it’s time to go to work.

“[I] play baseball and hockey with my son all morning before I come to the field,” Stallings said. “If I'm being honest, that's kind of what I attribute it to, just being around them. Hopefully I can start playing a little better on the road, but yeah, it's good to be home.”

Stallings has 17 hits in 47 at-bats (.362), including all three of his homers, half of his 10 doubles and 11 of his 15 RBIs at PNC Park. His 1.142 OPS at home is significantly higher than his mark on the road (.514).

That home crowd has probably missed Stallings as well. His latest walk-off homer before Saturday night came in a 3-2 win against the Cubs on Sept. 22 of last year. That game obviously did not have any spectators that weren’t there for leisure purposes. Having living, breathing, some unmasked, fans in the crowd might have added to the emotions when he circled the bases Saturday night.

“I guess I didn’t think about that,” Stallings said, wryly looking beyond the fact that that win against the Cubs was just the Pirates’ 16th in 55 games at that point. “Hard to say. But I was definitely more pumped up this time, so maybe that went into it.”

Either way, the crowd of more than 7,800 seemed excited to see what Shelton couldn’t.

MORE FROM THIS GAME

• While the walk-off has been the most recent trend for the Pirates, the homer certainly has not. The winning run scored Friday and the four-run rally in the seventh were much more indicative of what the club, especially in the absence of Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran, will usually have to do to put string runs together.

Stallings was also the hero in the four-run seventh after he pulled a Camilo Doval slider down the left-field line to bring in a pair of runs. The Giants’ 23-year-old righty offered consecutive sliders to Stallings, who had to adjust to the low pitch and reach down to yank it down the line.

“I feel like even though we haven't been scoring runs ... we've been having pretty good at-bats,” Stallings said. “Tonight we obviously did do a good job. But yeah, I think tonight is pretty indicative of how we need and are going to score runs, especially without those guys [out].”

The Pirates are last in MLB with 26 homers, which puts them in a tie with the Mets, who have played six fewer games. They rank only above New York, league-wide with 137 total runs scored. 

With an offense that possesses this sort of personality, it’s going to be important for the Pirates to be aggressive on the bases, hit and run and take advantage of any opportunity to take the extra base. When this is going to be an important part of game strategy, there’s going to come a time, or actually many times, when the spotlight finds third base coach Joey Cora.

In Saturday’s game, there were three instances in which Cora’s decisions could be called into question. The first did not fit the pattern of aggressive baserunning, though it maybe should have. The other two were gutsy calls that resulted in two runners being thrown out at home.

 “We've run more. We've hit and run more. We have to do those things, and the one thing that happens there is if you run the bases hard, which our guys do, you give yourself an opportunity to do things,” Shelton said. “We functionally have to do those things. And a good defensive team made two really good defensive plays to get outs, but we have to do those things.”

• With the weapons, or lack thereof, in this lineup, the Pirates must be fundamentally sound defensively. They simply afford to cover themselves and keep relying on the offense to bail them out when they are not. 

But for the second time this week, a pop up landed between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. Both times Stallings was behind the dish and Erik Gonzalez was at third base.

“One of the two corner guys has got to call it. And I think after reflection or conversation afterwards, everybody kind of stood and watched,” Shelton said. “I think we made an assumption that everyone else was going to catch it, and we can't assume that. We have to come and attack the ball until it's caught.”

The first instance -- Tucker Barnhart’s eventual fielder’s choice in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 7-2 win against the Reds -- didn’t do any damage. But the Wilmer Flores pop up that dropped with two outs in the opening inning Saturday night was followed by Brandon Crawford’s two-run blast off of Tyler Anderson. The Pirates dug themselves into a three-run hole before getting a turn at bat. These are very avoidable mistakes.

• Anderson’s string of excellence hit a snag Saturday night. The veteran left-hander could have used some help from his defense, but instead the long ball got to him in his eighth start of the season. 

It was Anderson’s worst start of the year, statistically, but that says more about his season to date than his performance against his former club. Despite being charged with four runs on six hits and two walks, it took a valiant, veteran effort to keep the Buccos in the game over five innings. 

“Did not have his best stuff, and he grinded through it against an essentially all right-handed lineup, “ Shelton said, explaining that Anderson was not sharp with his fastball. “I think you see the savviness of him being a veteran and being a grinder... that start for a younger, inexperienced guy can turn into a three-inning start, and we’re a little taxed in our bullpen anyway. But the fact that he gave us the extra two and continued to grind, kudos to him.”

Without the best command of his fastball, Anderson relied heavily on his slider and changeup, which is a strategy he’s previously deployed against heavily righty lineups in the past. 

He missed with a fastball to Darin Ruf, who opened the scoring with a homer, and the long ball he surrendered to the lefty-swinging Crawford came on the cutter. When he moved away from those offerings, he was able to retire seven of the final eight hitters to face him.

“You want to keep throwing it, keep throwing it until you get a better feel for it, but then again you also got to compete, too,” Anderson said. “You got to try and stay in the zone, and I was falling behind in a lot of counts, so. Just trying to figure a way to get back into counts.”

Ruf was a thorn in the Pirates' side all night. He doubled and scored the fourth run charged to Anderson in the third and had two outfield assists. The first cut down Ka'ai Tom at the plate in the fifth, and the next prevented Bryan Reynolds from overtaking Kris Bryant with an MLB-leading 15th double in the sixth. 

Reynolds actually scored the game-winning run and finished with three hits, including a double that preceded the walk-off homer. Incidentally, Adam Frazier was thrown out at the plate by Crawford on the double. Tom delivered an RBI single in his lone pinch-hit appearance, which was just his second hit in 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position since joining the Pirates.

• There’s only one Frazier left on the Pirates, and he continues to lead the National League in hits with 49 following his 2-for-5 effort Saturday night. But now there’s a second Keller in the mix as well.

Kyle Keller, whom the Pirates picked up in a trade with the Angels for cash, made his debut with the team after being recalled in place of Friday night’s spot starter, Miguel Yajure. Keller allowed a pair of runs on a towering homer by Mike Tauchman and needed to be bailed out by Chasen Shreve after issuing a pair of walks in the seventh. Much like the other Keller, the 28-year-old right-hander impressed with his stuff despite the results.

“It's good stuff. I mean, really good stuff,” Shelton said. “Actually when I went to the mound and took him out, I was talking to my infielders about him, and that was their same comment. A little bit of command issue. But that can be expected first time out. But, 95, 96 with power breaking ball. That's good stuff. And I think we'll have a plan moving forward of how to execute pitches with him.”

THE ESSENTIALS

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Standings
Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

Adam Frazier, 2B
Kevin Newman, SS
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Jacob Stallings, C
Gregory Polanco, RF
Will Craig, 1B
Ben Gamel, LF
Erik Gonzalez, 3B
Tyler Anderson, P

And for Gabe Kapler's Giants:

Austin Slater, CF
Darin Ruf, RF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Wilmer Flores, 1B
Brandon Crawford, SS
Mauricio Dubon, 2B
Curt Casali, C
Mike Tauchman, LF
Johnny Cueto, P

THE SCHEDULE

The Giants' residency at PNC Park comes to an end in the series finale Sunday. Mitch Keller (2-4, 7.81 ERA) is scheduled to take on another vet enjoying a resurgence with San Francisco in left-hander Alex Wood (4-0, 1.80 ERA). First pitch for the finale is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. The Pirates then hit the road for six games in St. Louis and Atlanta next week. I'll have the road trip handled while Alex Stumpf covers Sunday's finale.

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