PITTSBURGH (AP) — Gio Urshela, Kerry Carpenter and Jake Rogers delivered RBI singles in the ninth inning as the Detroit Tigers rallied past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 on Tuesday.
Detroit won for just the second time in six games by getting to Pirates closer David Bednar (1-1), who blew his third save opportunity in four tries.
Pittsburgh led 3-1 heading to the ninth before the Tigers broke loose against Bednar, a two-time All-Star.
Bednar walked Greene leading off the inning, then hit Spencer Torkelson. Urshela singled and both runners scored when Michael A. Taylor’s wayward throw from center to third base skipped into the netting near the Pittsburgh dugout. Carpenter and Rogers followed with run-scoring singles to give Detroit a split of the short two-game interleague set.
Urshela and Matt Vierling had two hits apiece for Detroit. Shelby Miller (3-0) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jason Foley worked the ninth for his third save.
Edward Olivares homered twice for the Pirates. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits and drove in a run for Pittsburgh.
Olivares, acquired from Kansas City in December, took Casey Mize's first pitch of the second and sent it into the left-field bleachers to tie the game. His second solo shot leading off the sixth against Tyler Holton landed almost in the same spot to give the outfielder the third multi-homer game of his five-year big league career.
Pérez used a terrific double-play turn keyed by a diving Hayes to get out of a bumpy first inning and settled down. The 33-year-old left-hander, signed to an $8 million, one-year deal in January, retired 22 of his final 25 batters. Pérez struck out seven without a walk.
Mize allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. Detroit played stellar defense behind him at times, including a leaping catch at the left-field wall by Greene at the end of the fifth that robbed Hayes of extra bases and prevented the Pirates from adding an insurance run.
Pittsburgh got it anyway an inning later when Olivares took Holton deep. It wasn't enough, however, for the Pirates (9-3) to match their best 12-game start since 1992.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: C Yasmani Grandal (left foot plantar fasciitis) will begin a baserunning program soon. Grandal has been able to take at-bats against a pitching simulator. ... C Jason Delay (knee) remains shut down from all baseball activities. ... 2B Ji-Hwan Bae (left hip) had his rehab transferred to Triple-A Indianapolis.
UP NEXT
Tigers: Are off Wednesday before beginning an eight-game homestand on Thursday when Minnesota comes to town for a four-game set. Tarik Skubal (1-0, 2.92 ERA) gets the ball in the opener for Detroit.
Pirates: Begin a seven-game trip Thursday in Philadelphia when rookie Jared Jones (1-1, 3.86) makes his third major-league start.
