Bryan Reynolds hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with one out in the eighth inning off Tommy Kahnle and the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Friday night.
Reynolds homered in consecutive at-bats and had his seventh career multi-homer game. It was the second multi-homer game for the left fielder this season.
Reynolds lined a shot into the right field seats off New York starter Carlos Rodon in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2, then went deep again his next at-bat, blasting Kahnle’s 1-0 changeup onto the netting above Monument Park in center field.
Kahnle (0-2) allowed his fifth homer in 50 appearances this season. It was the first homer allowed by the right-hander in 28 appearances since July 14 at Baltimore.
The Pirates prevented the Yankees from clinching the top record in the AL. New York (93-67) is still a full game ahead of the Cleveland Guardians, who lost to the Houston Astros on Friday. If the teams finish with the same record, the Yankees win the head-to-head tiebreaker because they won four of six meetings.
Nick Gonzales also connected off Rodon for the Pirates (75-85), who are 5-9 in their past 14 games.
After rookie Jared Jones allowed two runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, five relievers combined to allow one hit the rest of the way.
Carmen Mlodzinski (5-5) struck out Juan Soto to end the seventh before Reynolds gave the Pirates the lead. Aroldis Chapman tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save in 18 chances.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run single in the fifth off Joey Wentz after Jones intentionally walked Soto by loading the bases. After Wentz walked Jasson Dominguez, he kept the deficit at 2-0 by retiring Alex Verdugo and Anthony Volpe.
After clinching the AL East with Thursday’s 10-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees rested Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo and lost for the third time in four games.
Rodon allowed two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings to complete his second regular season with the Yankees. After winning three games in an injury-plagued debut season, Rodon finished with a career-high 16 victories.
–Field Level Media
