Cole Young's Two-Run Blast Steals Pittsburgh's Sure Win

Pittsburgh had a two-run lead heading into the seventh and the win probability sitting at 63% in their favor — then Cole Young hit a 382-foot home run to right that flipped the entire game. Seattle walked out of Pittsburgh with a 3-2 victory on the back of two home runs and a bullpen inning that was nothing short of immaculate.

Pittsburgh drew first blood in the second when Ozuna singled to center to score Rodríguez, and the Pirates piled on in the third when a throwing error by third baseman Crawford allowed Lowe to score on what was otherwise a routine infield single by Gonzales — Reynolds also reached third on the miscue. Just like that, Pittsburgh was up 2-0, and George Kirby was in a hole of Seattle's own making. Kirby didn't exactly help himself — he allowed 8 hits and 2 walks over 6.0 innings — but he limited the damage to 1 earned run, which looks like the kind of performance that keeps a rotation together even on an ugly night.

Seattle started punching back in the fourth when Cal Raleigh launched a 393-foot shot to right center to make it 2-1. Mitch Keller held that lead through six innings, giving up 7 hits and 3 earned runs on just 1 walk, but the decisive blow came in the seventh. With Raley aboard, Cole Young turned on one and sent it 382 feet to right — a two-run homer that swung Pittsburgh's win probability from 63% all the way down to 34%, a 29-point collapse in a single swing. Young finished 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run scored; Raleigh went 1-for-4 with his homer and 1 RBI. J.P. Crawford and Josh Naylor each went 2-for-5 and 2-for-4 respectively, giving Seattle's lineup a relentless look from top to bottom. Brandon Lowe was Pittsburgh's most consistent bat at 2-for-5, but it wasn't enough.

Andres Munoz closed it out in dominant fashion — 1.0 inning, no hits, no walks, 3 strikeouts — which appears to be exactly the kind of late-game security blanket Seattle needs when games get tight. Mason Montgomery matched him with 3 strikeouts of his own in a scoreless inning for Pittsburgh, but the damage was already done. The story of the night was Pittsburgh's inability to protect a lead that felt comfortable for five full innings, and a Young home run that turned a near-loss into a road win. With the MLB season approaching its halfway point, Seattle looks like a team that knows how to take games that aren't going their way and flip them anyway.