Birthday bash: Josh Palacios celebrates big day with walk-off homer as Pirates top Phillies in 10

Josh Palacios celebrated his 28th birthday by giving himself a present, with a smash-cake swing for a two-run home run that lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to a wild, walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Palacios sent an Andrew Vasquez slider screaming 367 feet over the Clemente Wall and into the right-field seats, then flung his bat and danced around the bases as the Pirates rallied for a 6-4 win in the 10th inning Sunday afternoon before 34,515 at PNC Park. The Pirates won the three-game series, which drew a total attendance of 107,151.

It was the first career walk-off homer for Palacios, who became the first Pirates player to do so on his birthday. Palacios went 3 for 5 to join Alex Rodriguez as the only players in MLB history to have three hits and hit a walk-off homer on their birthday.

“That was the best birthday gift I ever got,” Palacios said in an on-field interview with AT&T SportsNet, which he reiterated later at his locker. “I think that’s probably on the top. Best birthday I could ask for. Aside from my first birthday, definitely the best birthday I could ask for.”

It was the icing on the cake for the Pirates’ Yinzerpalooza weekend celebrating all things Pittsburgh. As presents go, it was the gift that kept giving as Sunday also marked the 53rd birthday for Pirates manager Derek Shelton and the 37th for assistant hitting coach Christian Marrero.

“We got the trifecta,” Shelton said. “But I’m probably the happiest for Josh. He’s the youngest and had the biggest hit.”

The leadoff at-bat in the bottom of the 10th began with Jared Triolo serving as the automatic runner and Palacios showing bunt. When Vasquez delivered a high-and-tight slider, it sent Palacios sprawling. The next pitch was a slider low and away for ball two. He connected on the third pitch, over the middle, for a no-doubt finish.

“I was happy I laid off those two pitches. One of them almost drilled me, so I recomposed myself,” Palacios said. “Once the bunt sign came off, I was like, ‘All right, it’s cool to take a shot.’ I took a shot and hit that ball, and I think I blacked out. I don’t know. I still might be blacked out right now.”

The Phillies might have blacked out in the top of the 10th, an inning that was wild all around. Alec Bohm hit a sharp grounder off Pirates lefty reliever Angel Perdomo that saw third baseman Triolo make a diving stop, but his throw went off Connor Joe’s glove at first, allowing automatic runner Bryce Harper to advance to third.

Trea Turner hit a fly ball to right that appeared to be a sacrifice fly, but Henry Davis fired a throw to home plate that stopped Harper in his tracks. Bohm was caught between bases, so catcher Endy Rodriguez threw to second baseman Nick Gonzales, who sent it back home in time to get a sliding Harper out at the plate for a 9-2-4-2 double play.

“I was just happy that we held them,” Davis said. “Obviously, at that point of the game we still had a chance to win it. If I can keep him from scoring, it increases.”

In what could have been a showcase start before the trade deadline, the Pirates pulled 43-year-old left-hander Rich Hill after throwing 78 pitches through five innings. Hill threw at least 83 pitches in 19 of his 21 prior starts this season, but left after allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven in five innings.

“As a player, it’s out of your control,” Hill said. “As far as the deadline, you just see what happens. I’d be remiss to think that doesn’t go through our heads as players. I’ve been through this a couple times. I’ve been traded a couple times. But the same respect is, you’re here providing service for the team you’re with. That’s my plan for the rest of the season.”

Hill threw three scoreless innings, getting a pair of around-the-horn double plays to end the first and third. That changed in the fourth, when Harper led off by drawing a full-count walk and Bohm followed by driving a first-pitch changeup 396 feet to right-center for his 10th home run and a 2-0 Phillies lead.

The Phillies pulled Cristopher Sanchez after throwing 73 pitches in five no-hit innings, although he allowed two walks and hit three batters. Sanchez had topped 80 pitches in only three of his previous eight starts.

The no-hit bid ended when Joe singled off Seranthony Dominguez to start the sixth, and Bryan Reynolds tied the score by sending a 2-1 fastball 418 feet to right-center for his 12th home run. It continued a trend for Reynolds, whose last five homers since June 18 have either tied the score or given the Pirates the lead.

The Pirates loaded the bases, as Davis drew a walk and Triolo and Palacios hit back-to-back singles, but they couldn’t take the lead.

When Hoffman threw a 2-2 splitter in the dirt and it bounced away from catcher Garrett Stubbs, Liover Peguero signaled for Davis to attempt to score. Davis started down the third base line but raced back to the bag when Stubbs scramble to the ball and Hoffman covered the plate. Hoffman got Peguero swinging at a slider low and away for the second out, then got Gonzales to fly out to right to strand all three runners.

The Phillies had better luck moving runners around the bases in the seventh, when Stubbs drew a leadoff walk against lefty Jose Hernandez and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Johan Rojas. After striking out in his first three at-bats, Schwarber walked.

Carmen Mlodzinski replaced Hernandez and struck out Castellanos, but Harper hit one down the first-base line that Joe couldn’t corral, scoring Stubbs for a 3-2 lead. Bohm followed with a single down the right-field line to score Schwarber to give the Phillies a 4-2 edge.

The Pirates got a break of their own when Turner collided with third baseman Edmundo Sosa, causing Joe’s pop fly to drop. Reynolds smacked a single to center that skipped off Rojas’ glove for an error, allowing Joe to score to cut it to 4-3.

Triolo started the eighth with a single to center off Yunior Marte and Palacios doubled down the left-field line to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Triolo scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Gonzales to tie the score.

After recording a five-out save in Saturday’s 7-6 win, All-Star closer David Bednar kept the Phillies scoreless in the ninth. Schwarber drew a two-out walk to put the go-ahead run on base, but Bednar got Harper swinging at a 97-mph fastball for a strikeout to end the frame.

Joe led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right, and Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel hit Reynolds with a pitch before recovering to get Andrew McCutchen to line out to left, Davis looking at a called third strike and Triolo to ground out to first to send it to extra innings.

That’s where Palacios delivered his birthday bash.

“We’re a resilient group and we’re going to battle, and I think today was a good representation of that,” Palacios said. “No one really cares about what the score is or where we might be in the standings. Just go out there, battle, be free, play the game free and good things will happen.”