LOS ANGELES — For the majority of Tuesday evening at Chavez Ravine, fireworks were intermittently fired on and off somewhere in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. A boom here, a blast there.
As the evening progressed, as day officially gave way to night, the quality and quantity of the explosives amplified. By the ninth inning, a plume of smoke began to engulf the stadium.
There were some fireworks inside the ballpark, too.
The Pirates scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning on the Fourth of July, turning a one-run deficit into a 9-7 win over the Dodgers to snap a three-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh trailed by one run heading into the top of the ninth inning, and after Carlos Santana struck out swinging to begin the frame, the black and gold stood two outs away from their fourth consecutive loss. Then, the rally.
Jack Suwinski and Nick Gonzales drew back-to-back walks to put the tying runner in scoring position. Jared Triolo laced a single up the middle that allowed Suwinski to easily score from second base and advanced Gonzales to third base. Josh Palacios came off the bench and flipped an opposite-field double down the left-field line; Gonzales trotted home while Triolo, who got a good read on the ball, motored around the bases to officially turn a one-run deficit into a two-run lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Dodgers put runners at the corners against recently anointed All-Star David Bednar, but Bednar slammed the door by striking out Miguel Vargas looking, inciting a cacophony of boos among the home crowd.
