MIAMI -- Josh Palacios and Tarrick Brock had done the pregame work and studying to prepare for such a moment. But to pull it off in the ninth inning, well, it took some guts.
Or maybe it just took a situation where there wasn't much left to lose.
Down 1-0 in the top of the ninth inning and just two outs from an eleventh straight loss, Derek Shelton called for a double steal with Palacios on second and Andrew McCutchen on first. If it worked, the tying run would be just 90 feet away. If not, Palacios would run into an out the team couldn't give up.
The Marlins didn't see it coming, and both runners took the base unopposed:
"I was looking for my read, keep my feet shuffling, moving and let my legs do the work," Palacios said. "I got my read, got what I wanted to see and took off and ran as hard as I could."
Connor Joe followed by tagging a ball to shortstop Joey Wendell that could have potentially been a game-ending double-play, but instead was a game-tying ground out before Carlos Santana broke through with two outs and two strikes with the go-ahead hit, propelling the Pirates to a 3-1 win over the Marlins at loanDepot Park Friday.
With Palacios and McCutchen's steals and Santana's hit, the team's 10-game losing streak -- tied for the third longest for the franchise since the Expansion era started in 1961 -- was snapped and a clubhouse looking for a chance to breathe got to celebrate for a night.
"When you're in the midst of a losing streak and you get down, especially when you get down in the ninth and you get a closer, it's really easy to go up and give away at-bats, and we didn't," a visibly relieved Derek Shelton said. "... I'm really proud of them just because of the fact it could have been really easy to give away at-bats in that situation. They didn't. They kept playing, and that's a testament to them."
Watching from the bullpen in the ninth, David Bednar knew he was going to get a chance to pitch after Palacios led off the inning with a pinch-hit single.
"Just wanted to put the finishing touches on it," he said, smiling.
The odds certainly weren't in the Pirates' favor even with that good start, though. Marlins closer A.J. Puk had blown just one save on the year. The Pirates were 0-38 on the campaign whenever they entered the eighth inning trailing.
And yet, with one Santana single, that changed:
Heading to first, Santana flipped his bat and pointed to his teammates on the bench, a cathartic moment for one of the players who has been the most vocal trying to keep his teammates' heads' up amid the losing.
"Emotion," Santana said about that shared moment with his teammates. "Emotion, especially we lost 10 games straight. You don't want that. Especially getting the hit, everybody has emotion, you can see the clubhouse, everybody's happy So, I think it's a good start again."
It took a lot for the Pirates to even get that chance in the ninth. Luis Ortiz was brilliant over a career-high eight innings. The defense turned three double-plays. Nick Gonzales was promoted and provided a morale boost. Henry Davis picked up a couple hits, stole his first major-league bag and flashed the leather in right:
The glovework from Henry 😤 pic.twitter.com/yWrBSfWX9p
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 23, 2023
But for a team that is going to need to rebuild now that the losing streak is over, it's that ninth inning that's going to be a template for getting back into the National League Central race.
"We have to get back to the way we played in the ninth, by creating opportunities that way," Shelton said. "I think early in the year we created opportunities by making sure we were moving by putting the ball in play and maybe there's a bunt in there. I think the ninth inning today was why we had been successful early and why we have to get back to a little bit of that."
The Pirates stole a league-best 41 bases back in April, sparking the offense and creating more RBI chances throughout the month. Entering play Friday, they had stolen just 32 bases on 47 tries, running less frequently and at a lower rate of success.
On Friday, their four steals were the second most they have had this season: Palacios' swiped bag, two by McCutchen in the ninth and Davis' in the eighth. All of them were done to create that run scoring opportunity that they couldn't do through hits and walks alone against Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo.
"If you try and put pressure, base stealing, you know something positive's going on," Santana said. "So, we try to win the game. Every game we try doing what we can be doing and this will happen. When you try to to put pressure on another team, something positive will happen."
To put it simply, if the Pirates want to win like they did in April, the best way to do that is try to play the same style of ball they played in April and bank on veterans like Santana finishing the job.
"It's the way early in the we scored runs, by manufacturing and trying to get people moving," Shelton said. "We were able to do that and then we got a big at-bat by Santana there. That's what a veteran does. He steps up in a situation like that and gets a base hit. Overall, I was really proud of them."
GETTY
Johan Oviedo, Rich Hill, Mitch Keller and Austin Hedges react from the bench after Carlos Santana's base hit Friday.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Bryan Reynolds (lower back)
• 15-day injured list: LHP Jose Hernandez (calf), RHP Colin Holderman (wrist), LHP Rob Zastryzny (forearm), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Connor Joe, LF
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Henry Davis, RF
6. Rodolfo Castro, SS
7. Nick Gonzales, 2B
8. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
9. Austin Hedges, C
And for Skip Schumaker's Marlins:
1. Luis Arráez, 2B
2. Jorge Soler, DH
3. Bryan De La Cruz, LF
4. Jesus Sanchez, RF
5. Garrett Cooper, 1B
6. Jon Berti, 3B
7. Joey Wendle, SS
8. Nick Fortes, C
9. Jonathan Davis, CF
THE SCHEDULE
Osvaldo Bido (0-1, 3.60) will try to make it two Pirate wins in a row Saturday whenever he takes on Bryan Hoeing (1-1, 2.70). First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m. I'll have you covered.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
Visit our team feed for all the latest around the clock and our team page for everything else.
