Off the bat, the Mets' closer, Edwin Diaz, pointed to the sky, signaling he thought it was going to stay in play.

Jacob Stallings was less sure, so he didn't run to start. He wanted to watch and see what happened.

“I figured he was either going to catch it or it was going to be a home run, so I figured I might as well just stand there and watch and see what happened,” Stallings said.

He got enough of it:

photoCaption-photoCredit

 

photoCaption-photoCredit

 

photoCaption-photoCredit

JUSTIN BERL / GETTY PHOTOS

Jacob Stallings' walkoff grand slam Saturday night at PNC Park.

Stallings’ fly down the line fell just out of reach of New York's diving left fielder, Kevin Pillar, for a walkoff grand slam to complete a wild two-inning comeback. The Pirates were down, 6-0, entering the eighth before beating the Mets at PNC Park Saturday, 9-7.

Before the game, the Pirates honored the 1971 Pirates on the 50th anniversary of their World Series win. They made sure to send them home happy.

“That was a heck of a comeback, man,” Derek Shelton said. “Channeled some 1971 there.”

Entering Saturday, teams winning by at least six runs after seven innings were 314-0. The Pirates broke the streak with a three-run homer by Wilmer Difo in the eighth and Stallings’ blast in the ninth.

"We continued to grind and continued to stay after a really good team,” Shelton said. “I give credit to our guys."

It marks three straight wins for the Pirates, all against the first-place Mets. Two have come after falling behind by at least five runs. For a team that is staring at its third straight last-place finish, it has to say something about the group as a whole that it battled back once again.

Before Saturday’s game, there was a media availability wih the living members of the ’71 team. Talking to its first baseman, Bob Robertson, about what made that team great can be summed up in a word: Pride. Pride as a group, and individually.

“It’s about having pride in your uniform, first of all, and having pride in your fans,” Robertson said. “Without the fans, you ain’t got a uniform.”

The first thing Stallings brought up in his postgame Zoom was the crowd. The announced attendance was 27,222, the most at the ballpark since before the COVID-19 pandemic. For most of the night, it was the traveling Mets fans who were louder, but as the game progressed and the Pirates fought back, the home crowd took over.

“I was kind of just looking around in the sixth inning, and there weren't very many empty seats, if (any) at all,” Stallings said. “That was pretty cool. Certainly one I'll remember.”

Robertson said that type of thing can’t be learned. The drive, the hatred of losing. Supporting all of your teammates.

“We had a group of guys who didn’t care about those superficial things,” starting pitcher Bob Johnson said. “They cared about one thing: Winning games.”

In 2021, the shorthand version of that is building a winning culture. That has been the goal of Shelton and Ben Cherington since they took over.

It’s also what makes nights like Saturday important. Not just the win, but the chance to be around champions.

 “I think we should embrace all of our championships here,” Shelton said. “You have players who are able to talk about what it’s like to be at the top of the mountain. We have guys in our room that have played in the playoffs or coached in the playoffs or won a World Series, but when you have a guy that’s been in your organization that’s done it, it’s special and we definitely need to embrace that.”

""

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Primarily a bench player, there is no way of knowing exactly when Difo could get into a game.

So he stays prepared, quite literally. If he isn’t starting and hasn’t been used a pinch-hitter yet, he’s got his batting gloves on.

“[I’m] letting them know I'm ready for any situation,” Difo said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “So far, it's working out for me, so I'm gonna keep it going."

Saturday, the opportunity came in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on the corners and two outs, Difo brought the Pirates back to within a run with a homer to right, his second in as many days.

“He just likes to play,” Shelton said. “He brings a ton of energy. He feels really good with where his swing’s at right now.”

Despite missing most of June after being sent back to Indianapolis, Difo leads the majors with 10 hits as a pinch-hitter. For the season, he is hitting a more-than-respectable .287, with an .801 OPS over 118 plate appearances.

After failing to make the Opening Day team and being designated for assignment in June, Difo has become one of the Pirates’ hottest hitters during his second stint with the team.

"I'm very grateful that the organization was able to trust and provide me the opportunity to come back so I can also demonstrate that I'm here, not only for myself, but more than anything for this team," Difo said through the translator. “I want to help them get these victories."

• The legend of John Nogowski grew a little more Saturday. One day after being called "a clown" by Marcus Stroman, Nogowski continued to be a thorn in the Mets' side, going 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run.

That RBI put the Pirates on the board in the eighth and got their five-run rally going. He also singled in the top of the ninth to load the bases, setting the stage for Stallings.

“The guy is unbelievable,” Stallings said of Nogowski. “It’s just one of those things. You think it’s going to stop, then he gets two more hits the next day and has good at-bats.”

Since joining the Pirates two weeks ago, Nogowski is hitting .486.

• Before the game, the Pirates activated Gregory Polanco off the injured list and optioned infielder Rodolfo Castro to Altoona. Polanco got the start in right field and went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.

In rehab news, Steven Brault allowed one run over three innings in his first rehab start at Class AAA Indianapolis. He threw 37 pitches, 28 of which are strikes.

Brault will make multiple rehab starts before he rejoins the Pirates.

Finally, sources tell DK Pittsburgh Sports that the Pirates have deals in place with their top two draft picks. More on that here.

 Factoid of the day: Stallings is the third Pirate to hit a walkoff grand slam at PNC Park. The others were Rob Mackowiak on May 28, 2004 -- hours after his son, Garrett, was born -- and Brian Giles to cap a seven-run ninth inning to beat the Astros, 9-8, on July 28, 2001. It's the 10th walkoff grand slam in franchise history.

• How about a 1971 story to close?

Talking to Robertson, I had to bring up the story about the Game 3 homer. With the Pirates leading, 2-1, manager Danny Murtaugh called for Robertson, his No. 5 hitter, to bunt a pair of runners over in the seventh inning of a 2-1 game. Robertson swung away and hit a three-run homer, essentially clinching the win.

It's one of the greatest cases of a mistake turning out brilliantly. All because Robertson had no idea he should check down and see if he should bunt.

"I didn't miss it [the sign]," Robertson said. "I didn't see it."

"I had never bunted in my freakin' life! Never!" he said shortly after.

When Robertson got back to the dugout, it was Bill Mazeroski who told him that he was supposed to square up. Robertson was dumbfounded.

"Roberto [Clemente] is over there, and is now laughing," Robertson said. "I didn't understand, and to this day no one has ever explained to me [why I was supposed to bunt]."

photoCaption-photoCredit

JUSTIN BERL / GETTY

The 1971 Pirates and select family Saturday at PNC Park.

THE ESSENTIALS

Boxscore
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. John Nogowski, 1B
6. Gregory Polanco, RF
7. Jacob Stallings, C
8. Kevin Newman, SS
9. Wil Crowe, RHP

And for Luis Rojas's Mets:

1. Brandon Nimmo, CF
2. Pete Alonso, 1B
3. Jeff McNeil, 2B
4. J. D. Davis, 3B
5. Dominic Smith, LF
6. Michael Conforto, RF
7. James McCann, C
8. Luis Guillorme, SS
9. Tyler Megill, RHP

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try once again to get that elusive first sweep of the season Sunday at 1:05 p.m.. JT Brubaker (4-9, 4.47) will try to right the ship against Taijuan Walker (7-3, 2.50), bringing this home-and-home seven-game series to an end.

IN THE SYSTEM

 Indianapolis
Altoona
Greensboro
Bradenton

THE CONTENT

Visit our team page for everything.


Loading...
Loading...