Jacob Stallings grand slam finishes off huge Pirates rally over Mets

The Pittsburgh Pirates were down pretty much all night, trailing 6-0 heading into the final two innings before a massive Bucco rally, capped off by a Jacob Stallings grand slam in the ninth, sent Pittsburgh to a surprise 9-7 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night.

Stallings cracked this shot that scored Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds, and Jared Oliva, and cemented the dramatic come-from-behind win at PNC Park. Stallings finished the night 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs.

Despite Stallings’ heroics, the rally caps were on in a team effort. The Bucs also got a three-run shot in the eighth from Wilmer Difo who was pinch hitting, while John Nogowski contributed a 3-for-5 night, including a double that scored Bryan Reynolds to help kick off that spark in the eighth. Nogowski is now hitting .345 on the year.

Hayes went 2-for-4 on the evening and Kevin Newman pitched in an RBI in the eighth when he grounded into a force out that scored Ben Gamel.

The Pirates seem to have the Mets’ number at this point, as it seemed they were headed for an all-to-familiar night where they went out without much of a whimper before they eventually caught fire.

It looked like Wil Crowe was headed for another loss there for a while too, as he finished with five and one-third innings pitched, giving up 6 hits, 4 earned runs, 3 strikeouts, and 3 walks, and the Bucs were down big when he went to the bench.

Clay Holmes ended up with the win, however, after the Pittsburgh rally, pitching just the final inning and even giving up a run.

Kyle Keller also gave up two runs in between short, scoreless outing by Chasen Shreve and Kyle Crick, but at the end of the night, the hero was Stallings, and the Bucs have now won three games in a row.

They’ll look for the series sweep against the Mets tomorrow afternoon at PNC Park.