Final
Pirates eye rare series win in Philadelphia
Apr 25, 2013 - 2:00 PMVideo
The Pirates can end their lengthy drought in the City of Brotherly Love with a win when the two clubs finish a four-game series Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Pittsburgh last took a series at Philadelphia from April 4-6, 2003, when the Phillies called Veterans Stadium home. The Pirates lost the opener of this series on Monday, but have responded with back-to-back victories, including Wednesday's 5-3 come-from-behind triumph.
Phillies ace Roy Halladay was cruising to the tune of one run in six innings with eight strikeouts, but the bullpen imploded and Pittsburgh took advantage. Trailing 3-1 heading into the top of the seventh, Pedro Alvarez hit a solo homer to make it interesting. Travis Snider and Brandon Inge each had an RBI single in the eighth and Starling Marte's run-scoring triple in the ninth capped the scoring.
Alvarez ended with two RBI and Pirates starter Wandy Rodriguez registered a no-decision with 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball. He also allowed nine hits, including a pair of home runs to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard.
"Today I didn't have my best stuff, but I tried to compete," Rodriguez said. "I tried to hold it together to a run or two. I made three mistakes, and they scored three runs. I had a couple of mistakes with my location. Like I said, I was just competing."
Vin Mazzaro earned the win with 1 1/3 scoreless frames and Jason Grilli struck out one in the ninth for his ninth save.
The Pirates have won 11 of their last 15 games and still have St. Louis and Minnesota to visit on this current road trip. Toeing the rubber for the Pirates Thursday will be James McDonald, who won his last outing on Saturday versus Atlanta with six strong innings. He gave up a run and fanned a season high nine batters to push his record to 2-2 in four starts with a 4.12 ERA.
McDonald is 1-2 with a 5.73 ERA in six games (4 starts) lifetime against the Phillies.
Philadelphia looks for a series a split Thursday in the finale of an eight- game homestand. The Phillies have lost two in a row and seven of their last 10 games, and wasted a golden opportunity from Halladay.
"To me, it seemed like two different games, because we did so many things well early in the game," said Halladay. "Then, later in the game, we didn't do the things we did earlier."
Mike Adams was saddled with the loss for giving up two runs in the seventh inning. Antonio Bastardo gave up Alvarez's homer in the seventh.
"I was just flat-out bad," Adams said.
Jimmy Rollins, Domonic Brown and Utley finished with two hits apiece in defeat.
The Phillies, who are scheduled to start a five-game road trip Friday against the New York Mets, have another ace in the hole for Thursday. Cliff Lee takes the ball for the Phils in hopes of earning a split with the Buccos and is coming off his worst outing of the season, a 5-0 loss versus St. Louis on Saturday. Lee allowed a season-high five runs in a season-low five innings.
Lee had lasted at least seven innings in each of his first three starts and is 2-1 with a 2.83 ERA. The left-hander has made three career starts against the Pirates and has a 1-0 record and a 3.05 ERA to show for it.
Pittsburgh won four of seven matchups with the Phillies a season ago.
- PITTSBURGH: 6
PHILADELPHIA: 4
Final
Apr 25 4:28 PM - Ryan Howard grounded out short to first scored Kevin Frandsen. None on with two outs and John Mayberry due up.
Pirates 6, Phillies 4 Bot 8, 2 OutsApr 25 4:07 PM - Gaby Sanchez sacrifice fly to right scored Starling Marte. On the play, Garrett Jones advances to third. Runners on first and third and with two outs and Michael McKenry due up.
Pirates 6, Phillies 3 Top 8, 2 OutsApr 25 3:53 PM - Pinch-Hitter Garrett Jones doubled to right scored Clint Barmes and Travis Snider. On the play, Starling Marte advances to third. Runners on second and third with one out and Andrew McCutchen due up.
Pirates 5, Phillies 3 Top 8, 1 OutApr 25 3:44 PM - Michael McKenry singled to center scored Andrew McCutchen. On the play, Gaby Sanchez advances to third. Runners on first and third with two outs and Pedro Alvarez due up.
Pirates 3, Phillies 3 Top 7, 2 OutsApr 25 3:19 PM - Gaby Sanchez singled to center scored Starling Marte. On the play, Andrew McCutchen advances to third. Runners on first and third with two outs and Michael McKenry due up.
Pirates 2, Phillies 3 Top 7, 2 OutsApr 25 3:15 PM - Domonic Brown sacrifice fly to center scored Ryan Howard. Runner on second with two outs and Ezequiel Carrera due up.
Pirates 1, Phillies 3 Bot 6, 2 OutsApr 25 3:02 PM - Ryan Howard singled to right scored Kevin Frandsen. On the play, Chase Utley advances to third. Runners on first and third with none out and Laynce Nix due up.
Pirates 1, Phillies 2 Bot 6, 0 OutsApr 25 2:54 PM - Gaby Sanchez lead-off Home Run (3) to left center. Michael McKenry due up.
Pirates 1, Phillies 1 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 25 2:35 PM - Domonic Brown doubled to center scored Chase Utley. Runner on second with two outs and Ezequiel Carrera due up.
Pirates 0, Phillies 1 Bot 4, 2 OutsApr 25 2:15 PM - PITTSBURGH: 0
PHILADELPHIA: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Apr 25 1:11 PM
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