Ke'Bryan Hayes scores on overturned call for walk-off win as Pirates snap 4-game skid

Ke’Bryan Hayes already had driven in the game-tying run in the 10th inning when Bryan Reynolds bounced a grounder off the glove of San Diego Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer and down the right field line.

Hayes “tried to turn the jets on a little bit,” never slowing down as he approached Pittsburgh Pirates third base coach Mike Rabelo, who waved Hayes home and saw him slide head first past the tag of catcher Jorge Alfaro – only to be called out by home plate umpire Mark Wegner.

There was a gasp from the PNC Park crowd of 20,483, the largest since the home opener, that was awaiting the first fireworks promotion of the season. After further review, the Pirates got a 7-6 walkoff win in 10 innings Saturday night when the call was overturned and snapped their four-game losing skid and salvaged a six-game homestand.

“He looked safe initially, with the way Alfaro tagged him,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who turned to bench coach Don Kelly for word on the video review. “As soon as Donnie went to the headset, I turned around and said, ‘Is he out or safe?’ He’s like, ‘We’re going to win.’ It was a good slide. It was a good baseball play.”

Narrator: He was in fact safe.#RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/o4iOXz1udj

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 1, 2022

It was an even better ending for the Pirates, who got a pair of terrific diving catches by Jake Marisnick in left field and answered Manny Machado’s two-run home run in the eighth inning with a two-run shot by Michael Chavis in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Hayes hit a leadoff single to center and Reynolds drew a walk to put runners on first and second for Michael Chavis, who hit a liner that ricocheted off the left foot of Padres starter Sean Manea to score Hayes.

JT Brubaker cruised through the order the first time, but the Padres pounded him the second time through. Jake Cronenworth led off the fourth with a double to right and Machado drew a walk, setting up Eric Hosmer’s three-run home run to left field for a 3-1 lead.

The Pirates tied it in the fifth, when Roberto Perez led off with a single and scored on Josh VanMeter’s line-drive double to center. VanMeter scored when Reynolds grounded into a forceout at second, making it 3-3. Marisnick made a pair of spectacular catches, sprinting for diving grabs to rob Ha-Seong Kim in the sixth and Trent Grisham in the eighth.

“Off the bat, (chances were) kind of a borderline, didn’t know if I was going to get there and I just started floating,” Marisnick said. “That’s where you put your head down and when you get there, I was able to take it away.”

Cronenworth followed by drawing a walk off Wil Crowe, and Shelton brought in David Bednar to face Machado in the eighth. After working a 3-1 count, Machado blasted Bednar’s four-seam fastball 426 feet to center for a two-run homer and a 5-3 lead.

It didn’t last long, as Reynolds started the bottom of the eighth with a single to center and Chavis tied the game by crushing Steven Wilson’s first-pitch slider 400 feet to left for his third homer.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Marisnick hit a chopper that a charging Machado barehanded and fired to first for the final out. The Pirates challenged but after a review the call stood, sending the game into extra innings.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Padres had rookie C.J. Abrams pinch-hit for designated hitter Luis Campusano and move Jorge Alfaro to third with a sacrifice bunt. Left-hander Trent Grisham singled through the defensive shift to score Alfaro for a 6-5 Padres lead.

Hayes singled to score Marisnick for the tying run, then blacked out as he raced around the bases for what would be the winning run.

“Honestly, in that moment it’s almost like you don’t even hear the crowd. You’re just focused on running as hard as you can, trying to score to win the game,” Hayes said. “So I almost had a little bit of a blackout while I was running and just trying to run as hard as I could and, luckily, I was safe.”

Hayes never had a doubt that he beat the throw home by right fielder Trayce Thompson and Alfaro’s tag at the plate. Marisnick said Hayes came into the dugout with a big smile on his face, saying he was safe, so the Pirates started celebrating even before the call was overturned.

“I could just feel where he tagged me and my arm had already crossed the plate, so I kind of knew,” Hayes said. “I was like, ‘There’s no way. I had to be safe on that.’ I was coming in and I asked Shelty, ‘What did they say to (video coordinator Kevin) Roach?’ and he said ‘We’re going to win the game.’”