Pirates Squander Late Lead, Fall to Phillies in Extras; Bullpen Strikes Again
PITTSBURGH — Gregory Soto blew the save, Dennis Santana took the loss, and the Pittsburgh Pirates let a winnable game slip away, falling 11-9 to the Philadelphia Phillies in 10 innings at PNC Park on Friday night.
Scoring Plays
Bottom 3rd, 6-0 PIT: The Pirates (24-21) erupted for six runs against Phillies starter Aaron Nola. Oneil Cruz plated a pair with a base hit up the middle. He scored on a Brandon Lowe two-run home run to right field, which snapped a personal 0-for-10 skid. Three batters later, Marcell Ozuna hammered a two-run shot to the bullpens in left-center.
Top 4th, 6-1 PIT: Bryson Stott plated Bryce Harper from third with a sacrifice fly to center off Braxton Ashcraft.
Top 5th, 6-3 PIT: Kyle Schwarber connected on a two-run home run to right-center field off Ashcraft.
Bottom 5th, 7-3 PIT: Lowe connected on his second home run of the game, a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the inning off left-hander Tim Mayza.
Bottom 6th, 8-3 PIT: Spencer Horwitz singled, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and scored on an error charged to third baseman Alec Bohm on Jared Triolo’s grounder.
Top 7th, 8-5 PIT: Schwarber hammered his second homer of the game and his ninth over his last eight games. The two-run shot came off left-hander Mason Montgomery, who relieved Ashcraft with two outs in the inning.
Top 9th, 8-8: Gregory Soto blew the save. Schwarber walked with the bases loaded and Bryce Harper singled home a pair on a deep drive to right-center.
Top 10th, 11-8 PHI: The Phillies (22-23) took their first lead of the night when Brandon Marsh doubled home Bohm off Dennis Santana (2-3) to open the extra frame. Rafael Marchan, who entered the game in the ninth inning, plated two more with a single to left-center.
Bottom 10th, 11-9 PHI: With two in scoring position and one out, Konnor Griffin bounced out to third base, allowing Ryan O’Hearn to score. Orion Kerkering prevented any further damage for his first save of the season.
Key Moments
It wasn’t the sole reason for the implosion, but the Phillies’ rally in the ninth inning started after Konnor Griffin committed an error at shortstop.
The Pirates had the winning run on second base with two outs in the ninth but José Alvarado (1-1) struck out Ryan O’Hearn to send the game to extras.
Player of the Game
Brandon Lowe had his third multi-homer game of the season. He also went deep twice at the Mets on March 26 and at the Cubs on April 12.
Stat to Know
The Pirates were 20-1 when leading after eight innings on the season entering play.
Notable Performances
- Braxton Ashcraft: 6.2 innings, seven hits, four runs, no walks, five strikeouts, 100 pitches/76 strikes
- Brandon Lowe: 2 for 5, two home runs, three RBI, two runs
- Marcell Ozuna: 1 for 4, one home run, two RBI, one run, one walk
- Oneil Cruz: 2 for 4, two RBI, one run, one steal
- Bryan Reynolds: 2 for 5, one run, one steal
- Spencer Horwitz: 2 for 4, one run, one steal
Noteworthy
- Spencer Horwitz’s stolen base in the bottom of the sixth inning was the first of his career.
- Braxton Ashcraft has pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts. He only totaled 6-plus innings three times in his career entering his current stretch.
Up Next
The Pirates will send out RHP Bubba Chandler (1-4, 4.62 ERA) on Saturday. LHP Cristopher Sánchez (4-2, 2.11 ERA) gets the ball for the Phillies. First pitch: 4:05 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/93.7 The Fan.
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