Isiah Kiner-Falefa pulls off 'bucket list' baserunning play to spark Pirates' 6-run inning

After Isiah Kiner-Falefa was hit by a pitch to load the bases in the fifth inning, Pittsburgh Pirates first base coach Tarrik Brock whispered a reminder that this was the perfect time to run a play on his bucket list.

So when Bryan Reynolds hit a sharp grounder up the middle, Kiner-Falefa prayed that the Cincinnati Reds would give him the chance to cause enough commotion to allow a run to score. So he sprinted through second base, hoping to beat shortstop Elly De La Cruz’s backhand toss.

“If I’m able to beat the ball there,” Kiner-Falefa said, “it’s a big win for us.”

It became a momentum-changing play for the Pirates, one that sparked a six-run inning on their way to a 7-0 win Thursday night at PNC Park.

As Jared Triolo raced home from third to break a scoreless tie, Kiner-Falefa found himself in “no-man’s land” because he intentionally overran the bag. De La Cruz’s throw was behind second baseman Santiago Espinal, who fell backwards while catching it.

“Just like a bang-bang play right there,” said Kiner-Falefa, who first saw St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt pull off the play years ago. “You know if you slide, you’re probably going to be out. … If you’re safe there, the run scores. Not making it a force play right there gives us a chance to get the run across.”

What happened next got Kiner-Falefa high marks from Pirates manager Derek Shelton. Kiner-Falefa’s momentum carried him toward third, where he was in a rundown between the bases when Espinal threw the ball to third baseman Noelvi Marte. When Michael A. Taylor took a few steps toward home to distract Marte, Kiner-Falefa reversed direction and slid head-first back to second base to beat the throw.

Shelton called it an “unbelievable baseball play, unbelievable IQ play.”

“You have to have a smart baseball player,” Shelton said. “To IKF’s baseball acumen, you’ve got to hit it and go. You can’t just hit it and stop because if you hit it and stop, then you run into a tag and we only get one run because once you run into the tag, we’re still going to get the first run. I think he caught them in no man’s land a little bit because it’s a play we don’t see very much.”

Shelton said it’s a play Brock has been talking about for five years, one that Kiner-Falefa couldn’t believe they pulled off. Once back on base, he immediately tried to get Brock’s attention.

“I kept looking at him, clapping and telling him thank you,” Kiner-Falefa said. “He was stoked.”

The Pirates still had the bases loaded, and the Reds imploded. Left-hander Nick Lodolo, who had nine strikeouts, hit Joey Bart with a pitch to score another run. Then Bryan De La Cruz roped a double to right-center to clear the bases for a 5-0 lead. Oneil Cruz followed with an RBI single to give the Pirates a six-run advantage.

Shelton traced the turning point in the game to that play.

“It could not have been executed any better, and then the awareness that once he ran through it and was safe to continue to go because now you get a defense in no-man’s land,” Shelton said. “I think it stunned everybody and he was able to get back, but overall unbelievable baseball IQ from him. And T-Brock, like I said, has been talking about that specific play for a long time and we could not have executed it any better. That changes the whole dynamic of the inning. Lodolo’s cruising, we get the one run and all of a sudden we get the hit by pitch and it continues to roll.”

Afterward, Kiner-Falefa still couldn’t believe he had pulled off a perfect execution of the play.

“That was a bucket-list thing in my baseball career,” Kiner-Falefa said. “Steal home was one of them, and that (baserunning play) was a big one for me, so check that off.”