Pirates’ Rookies Lead Come-From-Behind Win Over Phillies

Recap

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates relied on their plethora of rookies in their 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night at PNC Park.

After the Phillies jumped out to a 4-1 lead after scoring four times against Quinn Priester in the fourth inning, the likes of Endy Rodriguez, Liover Peguero and Alika Williams helped to spark the Pirates’ comeback.

It was Rodriguez who put the Pirates ahead for good with a bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning. This came after Rodriguez doubled home a run one inning prior. Rodriguez finished the night 2 for 4 with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored.

Peguero, who hit his second-career home run with a 412-foot blast off of Phillies starter Aaron Nola (9-7), finished the game with three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Williams, meanwhile, collected his first-career hit and RBI with a two-out single in the fifth inning to put the Pirates up by a score of 7-4.

Priester (2-1) earned the win in his second-straight outing. He allowed five runs in 5-plus innings while allowing five hits, walking six and striking out a career-high seven batters.

Key Moment 

Down 7-4, the Phillies loaded the bases off of Priester with nobody out in the sixth inning. Pirates relievers Ryan Borucki and Colin Holderman held them to just one run to hold the lead.

Star of the Game

Rodriguez’s go-ahead triple was the exclamation point on a big night at the plate for the 23-year-old.

Stat to Know

In the first three innings this year, Priester has only given up one run combined through his first three starts. In innings 4-6, however, Priester has been tagged for 14 runs in what is now 6.2 innings pitched (18.89 ERA).

Noteworthy

• David Bednar came into the game with two on and one out in the eighth. After allowing an RBI-single to Johan Rojas, Bednar struck out the next two en route to a five-out save.
• Ji-Man Choi finished the game 2 for 4 and now has hits in five of his last six games. He has also driven in five runs over that span. Since being activated off the injured list, Choi has raised his OPS from .469 to .741
• Celebrating his 25th birthday, Jack Suwinski went 2 for 5 with a double.
• In addition to his contributions at the plate, Peguero made an incredible diving catch at second base to rob Trea Turner of a base hit
• After drawing walks in his first two plate appearances in this one, Kyle Schwarber had reached base in each of his first seven plate appearances of the series before Priester struck him out in the fourth. Schwarber has reached base in eight of his 10 plate appearances in these two games.
• There were 38,434 on hand at PNC Park for this one marking the second sellout of the season. The other came on the home opener on Apr. 7.

Up Next

The Pirates (46-58) and Phillies (56-48) wrap up the battle of the Keystone State on Sunday afternoon. In what could be his last start with the Pirates with the trade deadline looming, Rich Hill (7-9, 4.84 ERA) will be on the mound for Pittsburgh. Fellow lefty Cristopher Sánchez (0-3, 2.98 ERA) gets the start for the Phillies. First pitch: 1:35.