Yankees 4-5 Pirates: Bombers’ rally forces extras, but Pittsburgh prevail with walk-off single

New York Yankees 4-5 Pittsburgh Pirates

The Yankees came within inches of a series sweep on Sunday afternoon, but a late rally in regulation wasn’t enough to carry them through extras. Tommy Pham delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Pirates edged New York, 5-4, at a chilly PNC Park.

Yankees fall on walk-off to Pirates after ninth-inning rally forces extras

New York looked overmatched for much of the afternoon against former Yankee Andrew Heaney, who held them to one run across seven innings while striking out 10. The Yankees opened the scoring in the top of the first when Cody Bellinger, returning from a two-game absence due to back stiffness, singled and stole second before scoring on an RBI double from Jazz Chisholm Jr. But from that point forward, Heaney took control, retiring 19 of the next 23 batters.

Will Warren, making his second start of the season, matched Heaney early, retiring the first eight Pirates he faced. But things unraveled in the third. After issuing a two-out walk to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Warren surrendered a single to Ke’Bryan Hayes, followed by a two-run double to the center-field wall from Bryan Reynolds. Pittsburgh tacked on two more in the fourth when Enmanuel Valdez tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Pham, and Kiner-Falefa drove in another with a double. Warren exited after four innings, having allowed four earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out five. His outing was a mirror of his previous starts—efficient early, but quickly undone by one extended jam.

Despite falling behind 4-1, the Yankees remained within striking distance thanks to four scoreless innings from the bullpen. Brent Headrick and Yoendrys Gómez each worked two hitless frames in relief, keeping the Pirates off the board and giving the Yankees a chance to rally late.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, the Yankees showed signs of life. Anthony Volpe reached on a one-out single off left-hander Ryan Borucki, and although Austin Wells’ bunt attempt was unsuccessful, Jasson Dominguez drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Oswald Peraza then drove in Volpe with a double down the third-base line. With two outs and two strikes, Trent Grisham stepped in and delivered once again, ripping a two-run single to right that tied the game at four. It was his second hit of the day and capped a strong weekend in Pittsburgh for the center fielder.

Luke Weaver took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and worked a clean inning to send the game to extras. In the 10th, the Yankees had a prime scoring opportunity with Paul Goldschmidt starting the inning at second. Bellinger’s groundout advanced him to third, prompting an intentional walk to Aaron Judge. But Chisholm lined out and Volpe grounded out to strand the runners. Weaver returned for the bottom half and recorded two quick outs before intentionally walking Oneil Cruz and unintentionally walking Joey Bart. He managed to escape the jam by striking out Jack Suwinski.

In the 11th, the Yankees again had a runner in scoring position after Kiner-Falefa’s throwing error allowed Dominguez to reach first and move Volpe to third. Joey Wentz, however, retired Peraza on strikes and got Grisham to fly out, leaving New York scoreless once more.

Devin Williams came on to pitch the bottom of the 11th. He retired the first batter, but Suwinski stole third base, putting the winning run just 90 feet away. Pham then stepped in and ended the game with a sharp single to left.

Grisham was the only Yankee with multiple hits, continuing to swing a hot bat after his two-home-run performance on Saturday. Judge went hitless for just the second time this season, although he nearly gave the Yankees a lead with a deep fly to center in the eighth that died on the warning track.

New York fell to 6-3 with the loss but still took two of three in Pittsburgh. The bullpen delivered seven scoreless innings before the walk-off, and the offense once again showed late-fight — but timely hitting in extras proved elusive.

Yankees roster

Up next

The Yankees will open a three-game series in Detroit on Monday. Due to cold weather, all three games against the Tigers have been moved to day starts. Carlos Rodon is scheduled to face Casey Mize in the opener, with first pitch set for 3:10 p.m. ET.