Ji Hwan Bae drilled a three-run, walk-off home run with one out in the ninth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates responded to a two-run rally by the visiting Houston Astros with a 7-4 win on Tuesday.
Bae bashed his second home run of the season — and third of the game for the Pirates — off Astros closer Ryan Pressly (0-2), who surrendered singles to Rodolfo Castro and pinch hitter Andrew McCutchen before Bae golfed a 2-2 changeup into the right field bleachers.
Jack Suwinski and Ji Man Choi also homered for the Pirates.
The Astros fashioned a stunning one-out rally in the top of the ninth off Pirates closer David Bednar (1-0), who entered Tuesday tied for the major league lead with four saves. But after Mauricio Dubon reached on a throwing error by Castro and pinch hitter David Hensley followed with a single to center, Chas McCormick laced a two-run double that tied the game at 4-4.
Suwinski erased a 2-0 deficit with his two-run blast in the second, turning on a 1-0 fastball from Astros right-hander Cristian Javier after Javier plunked Castro with a two-out pitch.
Choi’s solo shot in the sixth, also off Javier and also to right field, covered 418 feet and snapped the 2-2 deadlock. The Pirates tacked on an additional run when Ke’Bryan Hayes stroked a double to right center, stole third base and subsequently scored when Canaan Smith-Njigba lined a sacrifice fly to left field.
Javier surrendered four runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts over six innings.
The Astros were less opportunistic against Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller. Alex Bregman provided Houston a 1-0 lead with his first homer of the season, a 408-foot shot to left-center field. Kyle Tucker doubled that lead by leading off the second with his fourth homer, a line drive into the right field bleachers. Keller shook off those blasts and limited the damage.
Keller stranded two baserunners in the second and fourth innings, including one in scoring position in each frame, before leaving Bregman at second base in the fifth inning and Tucker at first in the sixth. He retired the side in order only once, notching a pair of strikeouts in the third.
Keller finished with seven strikeouts through six innings while allowing two runs on six hits and two walks.
–Field Level Media
