Pirates' bats steal thunder in Giants reliever Roxby's MLB return to western Pennsylvania
· Yahoo Sports
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates put a damper on the feel-good homecoming for Windber Area gradaute Braxton Roxby Tuesday night at PNC Park.
The San Francisco Giants right-handed reliever entered the game in the bottom of the third inning – his second major-league appearance after tossing a scoreless inning Friday against Arizona. Despite consistently getting ahead in the count, Roxby allowed four singles and four runs scored in the third inning – two charged to him – in the Pirates' 13-12 walk-off victory.
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“If I can take anything from what I’ve learned this season and worked on in the mental game, it’s I’ve just got to stick to my process,” Roxby said. “Today was one of those days that the process was good. I was in the zone, executing two-strike pitches and it didn’t go my way."
Roxby threw 23 strikes on 31 pitches. He had an 0-2 count against three batters and went 1-2 on four others, but the Pirates still continued a big inning against him.
“If I’m going to be a stable pitcher mentally, then I’ve got to be OK with days like today where the process was good and the outcome didn’t go my way," Roxby said. "That’s all I could ask for as a pitcher – to be process-oriented. I can’t be too focused on the results or you become a rollercoaster of emotions.”
Pittsburgh already had scored five times in the frame against San Francisco starter Logan Webb. The Pirates had runners on the corners with no outs and had erased a three-run deficit to lead by a pair.
Giants manager Tony Vitello called on Roxby in hopes of halting the rally.
“He was brought in as about as tough a deal as it gets,” Vitello said. “For him to be asked to do that is quite the challenge. They’ve got it rolling. The ball’s rolling downhill for them.
“He didn’t quit attacking and fortunately, he was able to get out of the inning. It was a light night in the bullpen for us. He at least got us to where we needed to get in the next inning and give (left-hander Cesar) Perdomo the ball.”
Pirates catcher Henry Davis stole second base on a Roxby offering, and Spencer Horwitz stroked a two-run single (both runs charged to Webb). Brandon Lowe singled to right field, and Bryan Reynolds hit into a fielder’s choice.
After Roxby hit Nick Gonzales with a pitch to load the bases, Oneil Cruz smacked a two-run single, with both tallies charged to Roxby – his first runs allowed in two innings of work.
“The Cruz 0-2 heater, left middle,” Roxby said. “I didn’t give up a ton of damage today – four kind of just not-well-struck singles. That’s going to happen."
Roxby struck out Esmerlyn Valdez, and Jacob Gonzalez hit a swinging-bunt single a few feet down the third-base line to load the bases before Roxby ended the inning by inducing a fielder’s choice by Jared Triolo.
Pittsburgh tallied nine runs in the bottom of the third and led 11-5.
“Today sucks. I didn’t get the job done,” Roxby said, “but the process was good. I think if I stack days like that, at the end of the year, you look back and had a pretty successful year.”
The Pitt-Johnstown product, in his sixth professional season, allowed four hits and hit a batter.
Giants reliever Perdomo replaced Roxby on the mound in the Pirates’ fourth inning.
Vitello said Roxby can learn from the experience against a Pirates lineup that produced 19 hits.
“I think that’s about as tough as it’s going to be,” Vitello said. “The phone rings and it’s not in the spot you want. The bases are loaded and the other team has all the confidence in the world.
“Whatever outing he gets the ball put in his hand from this point on, it’s not going to be tougher circumstances.”
San Francisco tallied five runs in the eighth for a 12-all tie. The Pirates scored on a walk-off error in the bottom of the ninth.
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.