Pirates Survive Rice's Three-Run Blast, Win in Ten

Pittsburgh walked into New York and beat the Yankees 5-3 in ten innings on July 22, despite watching a three-run deficit evaporate in a single swing. Ben Rice's 394-foot homer to right in the seventh — which scored McMahon and Wells — swung the home win probability from 21% to 61%, and for a moment it looked like the Yankees had stolen this game entirely.

Pittsburgh built its lead the right way, with power from both sides of the lineup. In the fifth, Jacob Gonzalez launched a 348-foot shot to right that scored Nick Gonzales, putting the Pirates up 2-0. Gonzales then went deep himself in the seventh — 397 feet to right center — to push it to 3-0. At that point, Mitch Keller had already done his job: 5.0 innings, 3 hits, zero earned runs, 6 strikeouts. Pittsburgh looked in complete control.

Then Rice happened. His three-run blast to right in the bottom of the seventh — 394 feet, McMahon and Wells both scoring — wiped out the entire lead and tied the game at 3. That single swing was the biggest momentum shift of the night, and the story of the game pivoted completely in that moment. Gerrit Cole, for his part, was exceptional in a losing effort: 7.0 innings, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, zero walks, and 11 strikeouts. That's a performance that deserves better than a loss, and it appears the Yankees' bullpen couldn't hold the tie long enough to give him one.

The Pirates answered in the tenth the way good road teams do — with situational hitting, not home runs. Jared Triolo singled to left, scoring Gonzales and moving Cook to second. Then Jake Mangum followed with a single to center, scoring Cook and pushing Triolo to third, making it 5-3. Gonzales finished the night 2-for-4 with a homer, an RBI, and three runs scored — the engine of this Pittsburgh offense all game long. Mason Montgomery closed it out with 1.1 scoreless innings for Pittsburgh. The Yankees had the right pitcher on the mound and the right moment in the seventh, but two singles in extra innings were all Pittsburgh needed to take this one.