Pittsburgh Review

HOUSTON -- Michael A. Taylor ran hard out of the box. By his own admission, he’s not a very good judge of knowing if his long fly balls have the distance to leave the yard or just fall short.

“Just a reflex, but I knew I got it pretty good,” he said with a grin.

Taylor was looking for a Josh Hader fastball that would fall down into the zone and walloped it when he left it hanging. The ball left the bat at 109.6 mph and traveled 421 feet to left-center, resulting in three runs and propelling the Pirates to a 5-3 win over the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Monday.

This team could very well be nursing a four-game losing streak on the eve of the Trade Deadline, but thanks to two-out hits in the ninth by Joey Bart and Taylor on back-to-back days, they are instead 54-52 and very much in the thick of the National League’s Wild Card race.

“Ideally we don't want our hearts to be pounding that much in the ninth inning,” said Paul Skenes, tapping his heart, “but it's definitely nice to pull these two games out. It's kinda our identity as a team. We've known it's been there. But it's nice to pull them out."

Like Sunday, this had the makings of a very rough loss, especially from an injury standpoint. Joshua Palacios exited in the fifth inning with left hamstring discomfort. In the sixth, Ji Hwan Bae needed assistance getting off the field after he had a midair collision with Astros first baseman Jon Singleton leaping to try to avoid a tag. He left with left knee discomfort.

Derek Shelton said postgame that the team would have a better understanding of the severity of the injuries, but Taylor sounded optimistic that his teammates avoided major injuries.

“We have a great strength and training staff, so they'll be back on the field soon," Taylor said.

That would be significant if true, especially since second baseman Nick Gonzales will be out for weeks with a groin injury suffered Saturday in Arizona.

Instead, replacements came through. Taylor hit the winning homer, Connor Joe picked up an outfield assist, and Yasmani Grandal got the offense going with a solo shot in the sixth to break up a perfect-game bid by Houston's bullpen after original starter Jake Bloss was traded to Toronto within an hour of first pitch.

The Astros boast one of the better bullpens in the American League but couldn’t hold a late lead, starting with a game-tying double by Oneil Cruz that left his bat at 119.3 mph—just another irregularity in an unusual night.

“The fact that we’ve had two back-to-back comebacks; then we had injuries today and it’s at Deadline time so things are going on—maybe it's a full moon,” said Shelton. “It’s different.”

After Skenes tossed six innings of two-run ball (one unearned), Carmen Mlodzinski and Aroldis Chapman fired scoreless frames before David Bednar escaped from bases loaded jam allowing just one run to save it.

“Full team win,” Shelton said. “I think grit’s a good word there. We’ve had to use many people over these last two days who stepped up in big moments.”

These wins come during an important stretch where Pittsburgh exclusively faces teams in playoff contention or hunt. The roster could potentially see additions ahead of Tuesday's Trade Deadline or changes if Palacios or Bae need stints on injured list. Deals involving prospects remain possible too; notably Quinn Priester was swapped for Nick Yorke on Monday while Rockies reliever Jalen Beeks joined via trade earlier same day

Regardless how next 24 hours unfold there is confidence within clubhouse

“I think we have all components necessary," Taylor said "Our starting pitching has been unbelievable; bullpen's great; defense solid & timely hitting present Everything needed is here—we just need put together right way play."