Phillies Make Stellar Comeback Over Pirates, Take Rivalry Weekend Opener 11-8

The MLB began their annual rivalry weekend on Friday. For the Phillies, that meant beginning a three-game set against their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates are an up-and-coming team, meaning this series is not as up in the air as other series the Phillies have and will play this season. However, the Pirates still have several flaws on their roster, which puts the Phillies in a good position to take the series.

The Phillies came into Friday night off the back of a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. That Thursday victory gave the Phillies their 5th straight series victory. The Phightins came into Pittsburgh with the goal of taking the rivalry weekend set for their 6th straight series victory.

The Phillies are off to a good start with that goal by coming back to win 11-8 in 10 innings. Friday night’s victory over the Pirates is arguably the Phillies best win of the season. After the third inning, the Phillies were down 6-0. Over the course of the rest of the game the offense climbed their way back to force extra innings and win it in 10. It was the Phillies first win after trailing 6-0 or worse since September 23, 2021 against none other than the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The night was a tale of two halves. The first half of the game could not have been worse for the Phillies. Aaron Nola struggled Friday night. He couldn’t get through four innings and was decimated in the third. He allowed six runs in the third inning, a two-run single to Oneil Cruz, then two two-run home runs given up to Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna. His final line Friday was a measly 3.2 innings pitched, six runs allowed on six hits and three walks, only striking out two Pirates.

The immediate bullpen help was not very helpful. Tim Mayza and Jonathan Bowlan both gave up a run in their appearance. However, the bullpen arms that came in afterwards were key contributors to the Phillies comeback. Chase Shugart pitched two shutout innings against his former team, lowering his season ERA to 1.72. Jose Alvarado came in, after the Phillies tied the game in the top half of the 9th, looking to push the game into extra innings. He did so by striking out three Pirates, leaving the winning run, Bryan Reynolds, stranded at second. Orion Kerkering came in to close out the ballgame and earn the save, and he did so with ease, continuing his resurgent season and lowering his ERA to 2.30.

The story of the night, however, was the offense. Scoring 11 runs in general is impressive and a good night, but the way the offense did it was phenomenal.

Kyle Schwarber had himself a stellar night, potentially his best of the season. He hit his league-leading nineteenth and twentieth home runs of the season. His performance Friday was the engine for this Phillies offense. His second homer of the night, a two-run bullet that snuck over the left-center field wall and into the Phillies bullpen, was the hit that got the Phils’ comeback started. It made the team still feel like they were in it, bringing them back to being down only by three runs.

Schwarber had one more chance in the ninth with the bases loaded and decided to be patient and drew a walk. That walk made it a two-run game, but it wasn’t for long. Bryce Harper collected his fourth hit of the night, a long single that bounced off the top of the right-center field wall and scored Adolis Garcia and Trea Turner. The hit was nearly a go-ahead grand slam, but Harper won’t complain with a game-tying hit.

The offense scored three runs in the ninth to tie it, then, without hesitation, decided to score three runs in the tenth to win it. Brandon Marsh doubled to start the inning and scored Alec Bohm to give the Phillies their first lead of the night. Bryson Stott then singled Marsh over to third, stole second, and then both men scored to make it 11-8 because of a Rafael Marchan single. That single broke Marchan’s 0-17 dry spell at the plate.

The Phillies did not give up the fight, even after going down early. It paid off as they collected the victory. They look to win the series on Saturday as Cristopher Sanchez (LHP, 4-2, 2.11 ERA) faces Bubba Chandler (RHP, 1-4, 4.62 ERA).

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