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Nationals' Orlando Ribalta was entirely unexpected hero vs. Pirates originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Teams don't really make a pitching plan for extra innings.
They try to win the game in nine frames, and when it goes extras -- like Nationals-Pirates did on Thursday -- they improvise.
Orlando Ribalta proved great at the improvisation on Thursday in Pittsburgh.
The Nats took an 8-7 lead in the top of the 10th when James Wood singled home the bonus runner from second base.
Ribalta entered for the bottom half, and despite giving up a leadoff infield single to Konnor Griffin, he saved the game.
The righty Ribalta struck out Bryan Reynolds, then he got the speedy Jake Mangum to ground into a double play.
MORE: A magical no-hit bid for the Cleveland Guardians
Ribalta was credited with a game-high 44.8 Win Probability Added. It makes sense, given he entered with a one-run lead and three outs to get while a guy was already on second base.
Still, Ribalta is an unlikely hero. Before this season, he had pitched in 26 MLB games and had a 7.81 ERA.
But he has now worked two scoreless innings this season for Washington. And this one was a big one.
He's got solid stuff -- his heater to strike out Reynolds was 96.9 miles per hour.
The next step for Ribalta will be continuing to deliver in high-leverage spots. This one was almost by accident, just the byproduct of being in extra innings.
But if the Nats trust him again in a big spot, potentially on purpose this time, he'll have this experience to draw on to try and gain confidence and prove himself.
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