The Fightins: Phillies erase 6-0 deficit in Pittsburgh, storm back to beat the Pirates 11-9 in extras
The Phillies trailed 6-0 in the third inning Friday night at PNC Park. Aaron Nola got shelled. The Pirates were rolling. The game looked over.
It wasn’t.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice. Bryce Harper collected four hits including a game-tying two-run single in the ninth. The Phillies scored four runs in the top of the 10th on consecutive hits from Marsh, Stott, and Marchan to win 11-9 in extras.
The second time in a week this team erased a six-run deficit. Last Friday against the Rockies they came back and lost in extras. This time they finished it.
Whatever this team is under Mattingly, they don’t quit. That’s been established.
Kyle Schwarber Is Doing Something Historic
Nine homers in his last eight games. Twenty on the season through 45 games. Schwarber is just the eighth player in Major League history to hit 20 homers in the first 45 games of a season and the first Phillie to do it since Cy Williams in 1923.
103 years. That’s how long it’s been since a Phillies hitter was on this kind of pace this early in a season.
The first homer came in the fifth, a two-run shot that cut the deficit to 6-2 and got the comeback started. The second came in the seventh, another two-run blast that made it 8-5 and kept the Phillies within striking distance for the ninth inning to matter.
Kyle Schwarber is on FIRE
The at-bat that might have been more impressive than either homer was the walk in the ninth. Bases loaded, Phillies down three, Pirates closer Gregory Soto on the mound. Soto threw four pitches. None of them were strikes. Schwarber didn’t chase a single one. Four balls. Walk. 8-6 with the bases still loaded.
That’s a hitter who is so locked in right now that he doesn’t need to swing to beat you. Soto couldn’t throw him a strike because he knew if he left anything over the plate, Schwarber was going to put it into the river. So he walked him and loaded the bases for Bryce Harper.
Good luck with that strategy.
Harper Almost Hit A Grand Slam in the 9th
Harper stepped in with the bases loaded and the Phillies still down two. He lined a two-run single to tie the game at 8-8. Four hits on the night for Harper. The guy has been one of the best hitters in baseball over the last month and the ninth-inning at-bat was the biggest swing of the game outside of Schwarber’s homers.
Bryce Harper Clutch Up
A six-run deficit became a tie game because Schwarber hit two homers, took a walk, and Harper came through in the biggest spot of the night. That’s your three and four hitters doing exactly what you pay them to do.
Phillies 10th Inning Clinic
Four consecutive hits to open the top of the 10th. Marsh doubled in a run. Stott singled. Then Rafael Marchan, who entered the night hitting .074, delivered a two-run hit to make it 11-8. The bottom of the lineup came through after the stars had clawed the Phillies back into the game. That’s a team win from top to bottom.
Brandon Marsh
Nola’s Problems Are Getting Worse
The comeback was necessary because Nola was a disaster in the third inning. Six runs on six hits. The damage started with a Konnor Griffin single, a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and then it snowballed.
Oneil Cruz hit a two-run single up the middle. Brandon Lowe hammered a three-run homer into the right-field seats on a four-seamer that Nola left middle-up. Marcell Ozuna crushed a solo bomb into the left-center bullpen on another fastball that stayed elevated. Six-nothing before Nola could blink.
His ERA climbed to 5.91 after the start. The left-handed hitter problem is real and getting worse. Lefties are slashing .322/.404/.511 against him this season. Pittsburgh stacked six left-handed and switch-hitters in the lineup Friday specifically to exploit it. It worked.
The runners-on-base numbers are alarming. Going back to the start of last season across 26 starts, Nola has allowed 69 hits with runners on and posted a 12.22 ERA in those situations. Fourth highest in the majors among pitchers with at least 25 starts. When Nola gets runners on, the wheels come off. The command disappears, the fastball stays up in the zone, and hitters punish it.
Nola was the first one in the clubhouse to greet teammates after the final out. He’s a professional and a good teammate. But the results on the mound are a serious concern.
A 5.91 ERA through nine starts from a pitcher the Phillies are paying top dollar for is not sustainable. Something has to change with his approach against left-handed hitting or opposing teams are going to keep stacking lefties against him and getting the same results.
The Phillies Keep Fighting Under Mattingly
Two six-run comebacks in a week. This team does not roll over. Whether they’re down six in the third or down three in the ninth, the lineup keeps competing and finding ways to get back in games.
Is it ideal to need six-run comebacks every week? No. The pitching has to be better at the front end so the offense doesn’t need to perform miracles every night. But the fight under Mattingly has been undeniable and Friday night in Pittsburgh was the latest example.
The Phillies are 22-23. One game under .500. They’ve won five straight series under Mattingly. The comeback saved Nola’s line from defining the night and gave the Phillies another series to fight for this weekend in Pittsburgh.
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