Newman walks in 11th for Pirates victory

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Kevin Newman isn’t afraid of the big moment.

Newman drew a game-winning walk in the 11th inning to help the Pittsburgh Pirates rally from a three-run deficit in the 11th inning to beat the San Diego Padres 11-10 on Sunday.

The rookie second baseman was down 0-2 in the count with two outs before he took four straight balls from Matt Wisler to win the game.

The Pirates scored four runs in the inning. That came after they scored three in the ninth to tie the game at 7 to walk away with a series sweep.

“It’s a big situation, but I try not to think of it in that it’s more than it really is,” said Newman, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games. “It’s him against me. Two strikes. I can’t control anything else. I’m just trying to go up there and battle.”

Melky Cabrera started the rally with a sharp line drive to right that scored Bryan Reynolds. With Cabrera at second and Josh Bell on third, Jacob Stallings hit a pitch-hit, two-run single to tie the game at 10. Cabrera, who is not exactly known for his speed around the basepaths, raced around third and slid head-first into home to beat the throw from Wil Myers.

“When you take a look at that third base coach and he’s sending you, you’ve just got to do anything possible to make it,” said Cabrera through a translator. “Thank God I was able to score for the team.

“[The slide] felt like I was swimming at the beach,” he added with a laugh.

Francisco Liriano (2-1) earned the win, while Wisler, who entered the game with one out in the 11th, took the loss.

“At the end of the day we scored one more run than them,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “It’s one of the best wins that I’ve watched in nine years here, for sure.”

After San Diego led 7-4 following an eighth-inning, two-run single from Manny Machado, closer Kirby Yates allowed three runs on three hits and a walk. Yates, known to be one of the best closers in baseball, hadn’t blown a save in 26 opportunities this season.

“It happens,” Yates said. “If I blew a save and we came back and win, I’d do that a 100 times. We didn’t. It sucks. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

With runners on second and third, Newman started the comeback with an RBI single off Yates that scored Diaz.