After skipped start, Jared Jones responds well in Pirates' 10-inning, walk-off win vs. Cardinals

PITTSBURGH — When Jared Jones cracked the Pirates’ opening day roster, skipped starts became an inevitable component of the plan to help manage the 22-year-old’s arm.

After having his spot in the rotation passed over last week, all attention Wednesday night at PNC Park turned to how the rookie right-hander would respond. Albeit shaky at the outset, Jones provided five innings of one-run ball in the Pirates’ 5-4, extra-inning win against the Cardinals.

Oneil Cruz smacked a game-winning RBI single to right in the bottom of the 10th to catapult the Pirates to a surprise victory.

Jones came within inches of replicating an undesired feat from his past start in the first inning, running a four-seam fastball inside that nearly struck Willson Contreras’ jaw. It prompted a mound visit from catcher Joey Bart, which seemed to help Jones settle down despite him still walking Contreras.

Jones recorded four of his five strikeouts against the six Cardinals hitters that followed Contreras’ walk. The hurler cruised up until his final inning of work, when the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn smacked a two-out, RBI single up the gut.

Otherwise, Jones efficiently maneuvered his way through the Cardinals’ order, needing only 78 pitches to do so. Had he gone longer in the game, perhaps the Pirates wouldn’t have needed extra innings to set up a rubber match on Thursday.

All the same, Cruz’s single ensured the Pirates persevered for a hard-fought victory.

On the mound

After Jones departed, Kyle Nicolas and Carmen Mlodzinski both continued their latest strings of success with scoreless frames.

But Colin Holderman, one of the Pirates’ most reliable relievers this season, followed with a rare poor outing. He gave up a game-tying, two-run home run to Contreras on a sinker that caught too much of the plate.

For Holderman, it was the first home run he’d given up since his inaugural outing of the season on April 11 against the Phillies.

At the plate

Unlike his last time pitching against the Pirates, Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas was not a no-hitter candidate thanks to Bryan Reynolds’ base knock in the first. But, Mikolas had his way with the Pirates until the fifth inning, when some effective base running aided the hosts.

Rowdy Tellez smacked his second single of the night, and advanced from first to third on a base knock to right by Nick Gonzales immediately after. Tellez beat the throw and celebrated his heads-up maneuvering by smacking his stomach with both hands. Meanwhile, Gonzales advanced to second on the throw.

Ke’Bryan Hayes plated Tellez with a groundout to short, and Joey Bart drove home Gonzales with a sacrifice fly.

Tellez put the finishing touches on a successful evening when he poked an opposite-field home run, his fifth of the season. Despite the ball departing with just an 83.8 mph exit velocity, per Statcast, it was far enough to the right of the foul pole to leave the yard.