It’s that time of the year, folks — when one pitch can help make or break your post-season fate. The Pirates seemed well on their way to a 2-0 loss at the hands of the NL Wild Card-rival Brewers until catcher Russell Martin crushed a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth against Jonathan Broxton. The Pirates tacked on one more run and went on to win 4-2.
With the win, the Pirates maintained their two-game deficit behind the St. Louis Cardinals and widened their lead over the Brewers for the second Wild Card to 4.5 games.
Watch Martin’s blast:
[mlbvideo id=”36407349″ width=”600″ height=”336″ /]
Martin, who is eligible for free agency after the season, leads the majors (min. 400 PA) with a .406 on-base percentage, and has 11 home runs overall with 66 RBI. The 31-year-old certainly seems destined for a payday in the off-season.