May 3, 2024 By Will Graves 4 min read

PITTSBURGH — Ryan McMahon homered into the Allegheny River, Cal Quantrill pitched into the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies finally held onto a lead during a 3-2 win over the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Colorado trailed in each of its first 31 games this season, a modern-era record. But not this time around.

McMahon put the Rockies in front when he opened the sixth with a drive over the right-field stands against Martín Pérez for his fifth homer.

Elehuris Montero and Brendan Rodgers added RBI singles later in the sixth, and Quantrill (1-3) and two relievers did the rest as Colorado led wire to wire for the first time since beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 in September.

Jake Bird struck out Andrew McCutchen with two on to end the eighth. Jalen Beeks gave up a two-run homer to Oneil Cruz in the ninth but recorded two outs for his first save of the season.

The Rockies flirted with ending the streak this week in Miami when they took an early five-run lead on the Marlins only to fall in extra innings.

Quantrill beat the Pirates for the first time by limiting Pittsburgh to three hits with nine strikeouts. His only trouble spot came in the second when Rowdy Tellez and Jared Triolo singled with one out. Quantrill fanned Jack Suwinski and Joey Bart to end the threat, beginning a stretch in which he retired 18 of 19 batters. He was removed after hitting Bart with two outs in the eighth.

Triolo had two hits for the Pirates, but Pittsburgh’s lineup sputtered once again.

The Pirates have dropped five straight and 14 of 17 following an 11-5 start. Pittsburgh has scored two runs or fewer 13 times during its swoon and is 3 for 40 with runners in scoring position over its last seven games.

That lack of production is putting a lot of pressure on the pitching staff. Pérez (1-2) matched Quantrill through five innings but ran into trouble in the sixth when an 83-mph changeup to McMahon became the 71st baseball to land in the Allegheny River since PNC Park opened in 2001.

Cruz’s blast off Beeks in the ninth became the 72nd.

Pérez, who has been solid in his first month with Pittsburgh, gave up eight hits with four walks in 5 1/3 innings as his ERA ticked up to 3.15.

Trainer’s room

Rockies: LHP Kyle Freeland (left elbow strain) has begun playing catch though there remains no timetable for a possible return. Freeland has been out since April 15. … Recalled RHP Angel Chivilli from Double-A Hartford and placed RHP Justin Lawrence on the paternity list.

Up next

The series continues on Saturday when hard-throwing Pittsburgh rookie Jared Jones (2-3, 3.18 ERA) faces Colorado’s Austin Gomber (0-2, 4.50 ERA).

Davis sent to Triple-A

Henry Davis will try to work out of his early season funk in the minors.

The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned the former first-overall pick to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday and activated catcher Yasmani Grandal off the injured list.

Davis is hitting just .162 with no home runs and four RBIs in 23 games for Pittsburgh. The 24-year-old, the top selection in the 2021 amateur draft, has struck out 29 times in 83 at-bats.

The Pirates drafted Davis as a catcher but he spent the vast majority of his rookie season in 2023 working in right field and as a designated hitter. He has worked almost exclusively at catcher this season in part because of injuries to Endy Rodriguez and Grandal, who signed a one-year deal in February.

Davis has been passable defensively but the power he showed flashes of last year has vanished. Only three of his 11 hits went for extra bases and his slugging percentage is a woeful .206.

“With Grandal coming off the injured list, it’s a chance for Henry to catch his breath a little bit,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think the thing that we know about Henry is that he’s probably one of the hardest workers I’ve been around at the major-league level. He’s going to go down there with a task and work on it.”

Grandal, 35, missed most of spring training with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. The two-time All-Star hit .257 (9-for-35) with two doubles, a home run and 11 RBI in nine games while rehabbing in Indianapolis.