PITTSBURGH — Jason Delay hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning that benefited from a fortunate bounce off third base, and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the New York Yankees 3-2 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Delay turned on a curveball from Carlos Rodón (3-6) and hit a bouncer that nicked the outside of the bag and rolled away from New York third baseman Oswald Peraza and into foul territory in left field, allowing Jared Triolo to score from second.
Pittsburgh’s bullpen, which let a late lead Friday night slip away in a 7-5 loss, managed to hold on this time. David Bednar, unavailable on Friday, worked around a one-out double by Austin Wells for his 36th save.
Triolo doubled twice for Pittsburgh. Miguel Andujar hit a solo home run against his former team as the Pirates (70-80) reached the 70-win plateau for the first time since 2018.
Rodón pitched relatively well across 6 2/3 innings in his 12th start since returning from forearm and back injuries that sidelined him until early July. The left-hander allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out a season-high 10, reaching the 1,000-strikeout mark for his career when he fanned Ke’Bryan Hayes leading off the fourth.
Rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe hit his 21st home run for the Yankees, a solo shot in the seventh that briefly tied the game. New York didn’t get a hit until Estevan Florial led off the sixth with a double.
PHOTOS: Pirates take advantage of a fortunate bounce to slip by Yankees 3-2 and avoid a 3-game sweep
The Yankees managed just four hits against five pitchers. Pittsburgh reliever Ryan Borucki (3-0) got two outs in the seventh to earn the win.
Rodón cruised early. He retired the first six batters he faced before Triolo led off the third with a double, ending a stretch of nine perfect innings by New York pitchers that began in the third inning of Saturday night’s 6-3 victory.
Liover Peguero singled home Triolo to give the Pirates the lead. Andujar, who spent parts of six seasons with the Yankees before being claimed off waivers by the Pirates last September, made it 2-0 by hitting a towering fly ball that clanged off the right-field foul pole.
New York scraped across a run in the sixth when D.J. LeMahieu doubled home Florial. Volpe knotted it in the seventh before Triolo started Pittsburgh’s decisive rally with his fourth double of the season.
Trainer’s room
Yankees: RHP Frankie Montas (shoulder) allowed one run on one hit with a walk and two strikeouts while making a rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, his first outing since Game 1 of the 2022 ALCS.
Up next
Yankees: Welcome the Toronto Blue Jays for a three-game series starting Tuesday. Clarke Schmidt (9-8, 4.56 ERA) will get the nod in the opener for New York.
Pirates: Off on Monday before beginning a nine-game road trip Tuesday night in Chicago against the Cubs.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.