Michael A. Taylor’s homer lifts Pirates previous Astros

Michael A. Taylor clubbed a tiebreaking three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to help the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates cap a 5-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday.

After Oneil Cruz delivered a game-tying double off Astros reliever Ryan Pressly in the top of the eighth, Taylor — an injury substitute in the fifth — followed walks by Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo with a 421-foot blast to left-center field off Astros closer Josh Hader (4-6).

The Pirates lost both right fielder Joshua Palacios and center fielder Ji Hwan Bae to injuries.

Pirates closer David Bednar issued a bases-loaded walk to Yordan Alvarez with two outs in the ninth but notched his 19th save by retiring Yainer Diaz on an infield popup.

Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes delivered a quality start, but the Astros made the rookie star labor over the second half of his six-inning stint. Skenes allowed just one baserunner over his first three frames, a leadoff single by Jose Altuve in the first, before fighting traffic in the fourth.

Skenes induced a 4-6-3 double-play grounder from Alvarez that erased Alex Bregman following his leadoff single. The subsequent Skenes-Bregman confrontation in the fifth proved pivotal, for it came after the Astros snagged a 2-0 lead when Altuve hit a sharp grounder that Hayes misplayed at third base, allowing Jon Singleton and Jake Meyers to score.

With Victor Caratini and Altuve on base and one out, Bregman just missed a three-run homer when his fly ball sailed just outside of the left field foul pole. Skenes rallied with a strikeout of Bregman, then escaped the inning when Alvarez’s grounder struck Altuve in the basepath.

Skenes induced an inning-ending double play in the sixth with Jeremy Pena on third, with Hayes making a nifty stop of Meyers’ grounder to initiate the play.

Skenes allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks with six strikeouts. It marked his eighth consecutive start allowing two runs or fewer.

The Astros scratched rookie right-hander Jake Bloss from his start, as they dealt him to the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a package that netted veteran left-hander Yusei Kikuchi. That thrust right-handed reliever Tayler Scott into the role of opener, and Scott delivered three perfect innings with four strikeouts.

Astros right-hander Kaleb Ort, recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land earlier on Monday, followed by retiring the first eight batter he faced before grooving a 2-1 fastball to nine-hole hitter Yasmani Grandal, who promptly smacked his fourth home run to the facing of the second deck in right field. That solo blast, the first hit of the game for the Pirates, sliced their deficit to 2-1.

–Field Level Media