14th-inning homer sinks Pirates
Toronto’s Davis Schneider decided the marathon game with a two-run shot off Kyle Nicolas.
By the time the longest game of the season ended, the starting pitcher’s duel was but a distant memory and it had been eight-plus innings since the Pittsburgh Pirates got a hit.
Davis Schneider hit a two-out, two-run home run off Kyle Nicolas to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 5-3 walk-off win in the 14th inning to end a three-hour, 46-minute marathon Friday night at Rogers Centre.
It was the most innings played in a game in the major leagues this season, and the Pirates’ longest game since a 15-inning, 7-6 loss at the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 24, 2018.
Nicolas retired the first two batters he faced in the 14th, but automatic runner Cavan Biggio advanced to third on Kevin Kiermaier’s groundout to first before Schneider sent a first-pitch fastball 370 feet to right for his seventh home run and the walk-off win.
The Pirates (26-31) dropped to 5-3 in extra-inning games.
Pirates lefty starter Bailey Falter tossed six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five to deliver his sixth quality start. After back-to-back, two-out walk, lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman stranded two runners in the eighth while David Bednar overcame a leadoff double in the ninth to send it to extra innings.
It marked the fifth time this season a Pirates starter has pitched six or more innings and allowed two or fewer hits, and the second time Falter has done so. Falter finished May with a 2.23 ERA and .193 batting average against in five starts.
Falter got help in the third when Ernie Clement hit a leadoff single to left but was out at second base on a laser throw by Bryan Reynolds to Nick Gonzales for the tag. Reynolds’ throw was clocked at 95 mph, harder than any pitch thrown to that point in the game. Falter, whose velocity didn’t touch 95 until the sixth inning, needed only six pitches to finish the third and eight to retire the side in the fourth.
The Pirates got back-toback singles by Gonzales and Rowdy Tellez to start the fifth before Andrew McCutchen lined a twoout single to the left-center gap off Jose Berrios to drive in Gonzales for a 1-0 lead. That was the lone run allowed by Berrios, who gave up six hits without a walk and five strikeouts on 101 pitches.
Falter didn’t deal with a baserunner until the sixth, when Kiermaier singled to right and stole second. Danny Jansen drew a two-out walk to put the go-ahead run on base but Falter got Vladimir Guerrero Jr. swinging at a 2-2 fastball above the strike zone to keep the Blue Jays scoreless.
Colin Holderman replaced Falter for the seventh, striking out Bo Bi- chette and getting Justin Turner to ground out to third before hitting George Springer with a pitch. Daniel Vogelbach followed with a pinchhit double to deep center, where Ji Hwan Bae lost track of the ball and turned around to watch it bounce off the base of the wall for a double that scored Springer to tie the game at 1-1.
Chapman retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth, getting Schneider to chase a full-count splitter in the dirt for the second out. But Jansen drew a full-count walk off Chapman, once again putting the go-ahead run on base for Guerrero.
This time, Guerrero drew a four-pitch walk. After a mound visit from Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin, Chapman got Bichette to hit a fly ball to right where Connor Joe made a sliding catch to end the inning.
Oneil Cruz drew a fullcount walk off Yimi Garcia in the ninth, only to be picked off at first by Jansen on a 2-2 ball to Gonzales. First base umpire Charlie Ramos ruled Cruz safe on the slide back to the base but the Blue Jays challenged the call and it was overturned when video review showed that Guerrero tagged his helmet before Cruz touched the bag. Garcia got Gonzales to pop up to second to end the frame.
