The Pirates managed to score a pair of runs in the oddest of fashions during their 10-4 loss to the Rockies on Wednesday.
The two-out play in the bottom of the second started like any other when Henry Davis delivered a sharp grounder to the gap between third base and shortstop, but Colorado’s Kyle Karros managed to make the diving play on the ball.
Karros made the throw to second instead of first in an attempt to get Brandon Lowe out. But Lowe ran through the bag and was on the move to third.
During all of this, Ryan O’Hearn scored, and Nick Gonzales then started running toward home after beginning the whole ordeal on second base.
Gonzales found himself trapped in a pickle as he ran between third and home.
Just when it looked like Gonzales was going to be tagged out in a rundown, Rockies pitcher Jose Quintana pushed the Pirates runner, and the umpire called the hurler for obstruction.
Davis managed to get to second base, and the Pirates had themselves a 2-0 lead.
In the end, it didn’t mean much as the Rockies poured on the runs over the final five innings of the game, breaking out to a lead with a six-run fifth inning. They added to their lead with a run in the eighth and three more in the ninth.
The loss moved the Pirates to 23-20 on the season before Thursday’s rubber match.