PIRATES GAME PREVIEW

PHILADELPHIA AT PITTSBURGH

WHEN: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, July 7, 2018
WHERE: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Philadelphia Phillies have surged into a tie for the lead in the National League East, and if their performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates continues, they’ll have a chance to keep climbing this weekend. The Phillies aim for a sixth straight victory when they visit the Pirates for the middle contest of their three-game series on Saturday.

The Phillies have won five in a row and seven of their last eight after rolling to a 17-5 rout in the series opener, pulling into a tie with Atlanta atop the division. After leaning on dominant pitching for its previous four victories, Philadelphia collected 18 hits in Friday’s rout. Pittsburgh has lost four straight as its pitching staff has been beaten up, allowing 48 runs - and 12 homers - during the skid. The Phillies have won all five meetings with the Pirates this season, outscoring them 35-10.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (5-6, 3.54 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Jameson Taillon (5-6, 4.05)

Arrieta is winless in his last six turns, recording only one quality start over that stretch. The 32-year-old pitched better last time out, allowing three runs - two earned - over five innings in a no-decision against Washington. Arrieta is 11-6 with a 3.01 ERA in 21 career starts against the Pirates, including a victory on April 19 in which he struck out 10 and allowed one hit over seven scoreless frames.

Taillon was excellent in June, going 3-2 with a 2.90 ERA, but he didn’t have his best stuff in his first outing of July. The 26-year-old allowed four runs - three earned - over 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision at San Diego on Sunday. Taillon gave up five runs in 1 2/3 frames at Philadelphia on April 19, falling to 1-1 with a 5.68 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies.

WALK-OFFS

1. Phillies C Andrew Knapp is 10-for-24 with three homers during his seven-game hitting streak.

2. Pirates 2B Josh Harrison went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Friday to snap a 1-for-16 slump.

3. Philadelphia CF Odubel Herrera, who homered and drove in four runs on Friday, is 4-for-7 with a homer versus Taillon.

PREDICTION: Phillies 7, Pirates 4

STATS AND RECORDS

TEAM COMPARISON

	W/L	Strk	Home	Away	East	Central	West	IL
Philadelphia	48-36	W5	30-16	18-20	15-16	16-8	9-8	8-4
Pittsburgh	40-47	L4	21-22	19-25	4-11	18-16	8-18	10-2

Last Meeting

			Philadelphia			Pittsburgh
Date	Away	Home	Avg	HR	OPS	Avg	HR	OPS
7/6/18	PHI 17	PIT 5	.409	2	1.185	.308	0	.836

Player Stats

Season Series

Batting	Player	Avg	Hits	OPS
Philadelphia	R. Hoskins	.389	7	1.319
Pittsburgh	C. Dickerson	.316	6	.771

Offense	Player	HR	Runs	RBI
Philadelphia	R. Hoskins	2	6	8
Pittsburgh	S. Rodriguez	1	2	1

Pitching	ERA	Avg	K
Philadelphia	1.53	.286	50
Pittsburgh	7.06	.201	55
Season

Batting	Player	Avg	Hits	OPS
Philadelphia	O. Herrera	.278	90	.805
Pittsburgh	C. Dickerson	.309	90	.804

Offense	Player	HR	Runs	RBI
Philadelphia	O. Herrera	15	44	51
Pittsburgh	G. Polanco	12	43	43

Pitching	ERA	Avg	K
Philadelphia	3.87	.237	772
Pittsburgh	4.53	.249	727

PIRATES BULLPEN CAN’T GET THE JOB DONE

Top of Form

Top of Form

Top of Form

Top of Form

PHILADELPHIA 17, PITTSBURGH 5

WHEN: 7:05 PM ET, Friday, July 6, 2018
WHERE: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TEMPERATURE: 75°
UMPIRES: Home - Alfonso Marquez, 1B - Roberto Ortiz, 2B - Mike Estabrook, 3B - Chad Fairchild
ATTENDANCE: 24846

Odubel Herrera and Andrew Knapp each homered, and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies hammered the Pittsburgh Pirates 17-5 Friday night in a 4-hour, 30-minute affair that tied the National League record for longest nine-inning game.

It was also the longest nine-inning game in the history of each franchise.

Herrera had four RBIs, Knapp and Carlos Santana added three each and Scott Kingery had four of the Phillies' 18 hits.

Philadelphia, which scored seven runs in the seventh inning to break the game open, has won five in a row and seven of its past eight to improve to 48-37 and grab a share of the NL East lead with Atlanta.

The Pirates have lost four straight -- by a combined score of 48-13 -- and five of their last six.

Neither starter made it out of the third.

Philadelphia's Nick Pivetta gave up three runs -- one earned -- and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. Edubray Ramos (3-0) got two outs in the fifth and got the win.

Pittsburgh's Trevor Williams (6-7) allowed five runs on five hits with two walks and no strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first on Colin Moran's RBI single.

But in the second, Santana walked and, an out later, went to second on Kingery's single. After Knapp flied out, Maikel Franco hit a two-run double for a 2-1 Phillies lead.

Herrara's three-run homer, his 15th, to right upped Philadelphia's lead to 5-1 in the third.

In the bottom of the third, Gregory Polanco scored on Elias Diaz's groundout and Moran scored on Corey Dickerson's single to make it 5-3.

Starling Marte's RBI single in the fourth drew the Pirates to within 5-4.

Santana's sacrifice fly drove in Philadelphia's sixth run in the sixth, and Kingery's RBI single later that inning made it 7-4.

The Phillies made it a laugher in the seventh, sending 11 batters to the plate. Rhys Hoskins and Herrera hit back-to-back RBI singles, Santana then drove in two runs with a double and Knapp hit his fourth homer, a three-run smack to left, to make it 14-4.

In the ninth, Jesmuel Valentin hit a two-run double then scored on a double by Hoskins.

Josh Harrison drove in the Pirates' fifth run in the ninth with a double.

TOP GAME PERFORMANCES

STARTING PITCHERS

PHILADELPHIA		PITTSBURGH
Nick Pivetta	Player	Trevor Williams
No Decision	W/L	Loss
2.2	IP	2.1
2	Strikeouts	0
5	Hits	5
3.38	ERA	19.29

HITTING

PHILADELPHIA		PITTSBURGH
Scott Kingery	Player	Corey Dickerson
4	Hits	3
1	RBI	1
0	HR	0
4	TB	5
.800	Avg	.750

TEAM STATS SUMMARY

TEAM	HITS	HR	TB	AVG	LOB	K	RBI	BB	SB	ERRORS
Philadelphia	18	2	29	.409	29	12	17	10	0	1
Pittsburgh	12	0	17	.308	21	8	5	4	4	1

Bottom of Form

SCORING SUMMARY

INNING				PHI	PIT
Pirates		1st	Moran singled to center, Polanco scored.	0	1
Phillies		2nd	Franco doubled to deep center, Santana and Kingery scored.	2	1
Phillies		3rd	Herrera homered to right (399 feet), Hernández and Hoskins scored.	5	1
Pirates		3rd	Díaz grounded out to second, Polanco scored, Moran to third.	5	2
Pirates		3rd	Dickerson singled to left, Moran scored.	5	3
Pirates		4th	Marte singled to shallow left, Bell scored.	5	4
Phillies		6th	Santana hit sacrifice fly to center, Hernández scored.	6	4
Phillies		6th	Kingery reached on infield single to pitcher, Hoskins scored,  Herrera to third,  Williams to second.	7	4
Phillies		7th	Hoskins singled to left, Altherr scored, Hernández to second.	8	4
Phillies		7th	Herrera singled to right, Hernández scored, Hoskins to third.	9	4
Phillies		7th	Santana doubled to deep right, Hoskins and Herrera scored.	11	4
Phillies		7th	Knapp homered to left (389 feet), Santana and Kingery scored.	14	4
Phillies		9th	Valentín doubled to right, Kingery and Knapp scored.	16	4
Phillies		9th	Hoskins doubled to left, Valentín scored.	17	4
Pirates		9th	Harrison doubled to deep right, Luplow scored, Stallings to third.	17	5

Final Scoring Summary

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia	0	2	3	0	0	2	7	0	3	17	18	1
Pittsburgh	1	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	12	1

Philadelphia

Hitters	Pos	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Avg
Cesar Hernandez	2B	5	3	3	0	0	1	0	.271
Jorge Alfaro	PH-3B	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.245
Rhys Hoskins	LF	5	3	3	2	2	0	2	.255
Odubel Herrera	CF	6	2	2	4	1	2	4	.278
Carlos Santana	1B	3	2	1	3	2	0	1	.226
Nick Williams	RF	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	.240
Tommy Hunter	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Dylan Cozens	PH-RF	2	0	0	0	0	2	3	.118
Scott Kingery	SS	5	3	4	1	1	1	0	.237
Andrew Knapp	C	4	2	2	3	1	1	5	.222
Maikel Franco	3B	3	0	1	2	0	1	4	.267
Edubray Ramos	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Aaron Altherr	RF	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	.168
Pat Neshek	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Mark Leiter Jr.	RP	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000
Adam Morgan	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Nick Pivetta	SP	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	.154
Austin Davis	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jesmuel Valentin	3B-2B	4	1	1	2	0	2	2	.216
Totals		44	17	18	17	10	12	29
Batting
2B - Rhys Hoskins (21), Carlos Santana (17), Andrew Knapp (4), Maikel Franco (12), Jesmuel Valentin (4)
HR - Odubel Herrera (15), Andrew Knapp (4)
TB - Cesar Hernandez 3, Rhys Hoskins 4, Odubel Herrera 5, Carlos Santana 2, Nick Williams, Scott Kingery 4, Andrew Knapp 6, Maikel Franco 2, Jesmuel Valentin 2
RBI - Rhys Hoskins 2 (55), Odubel Herrera 4 (51), Carlos Santana 3 (51), Scott Kingery (25), Andrew Knapp 3 (14), Maikel Franco 2 (40), Jesmuel Valentin 2 (6)
2-Out RBI - Rhys Hoskins (18), Scott Kingery (13), Andrew Knapp 3 (8), Maikel Franco 2 (14)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Odubel Herrera (28), Dylan Cozens (4), Andrew Knapp 2 (9), Nick Pivetta 3 (9)
SF - Carlos Santana (6)
GIDP - Odubel Herrera (8)
Team LOB - 13
Fielding
E - Scott Kingery (8)
Outfield Assists - Nick Williams (Moran at Home)

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Nick Pivetta	2.2	5	3	1	2	2	0	4.62
Austin Davis	1.2	3	1	1	0	1	0	4.15
Edubray Ramos (W 3-0)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.95
Tommy Hunter (H 16)	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	4.67
Pat Neshek	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
Mark Leiter Jr.	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3.72
Adam Morgan	1.0	2	1	1	1	2	0	5.32
WP - Nick Pivetta, Pat Neshek
HBP - Josh Harrison (by Pivetta), Starling Marte (by Leiter Jr.)
Pitches-Strikes - Nick Pivetta 74-45, Austin Davis 34-21, Edubray Ramos 6-3, Tommy Hunter 19-13, Pat Neshek 15-8, Mark Leiter Jr. 15-9, Adam Morgan 22-11
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Nick Pivetta 6-0, Austin Davis 2-0, Edubray Ramos 1-1, Tommy Hunter 2-1, Pat Neshek 1-0, Mark Leiter Jr. 1-0, Adam Morgan 0-1
Batters Faced - Nick Pivetta 16, Austin Davis 8, Edubray Ramos 2, Tommy Hunter 5, Pat Neshek 4, Mark Leiter Jr. 4, Adam Morgan 6
Inherited Runners-Scored - Austin Davis 2-0, Edubray Ramos 1-0

Pittsburgh

Hitters	Pos	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	LOB	Avg
Josh Bell	1B	5	1	1	0	0	0	2	.253
Starling Marte	CF	4	0	2	1	0	0	0	.269
Gregory Polanco	RF	4	2	1	0	1	2	2	.231
Colin Moran	3B	4	1	1	1	0	0	4	.262
Josh Smoker	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Jordan Luplow	LF	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
Elias Diaz	C	2	0	0	1	1	0	1	.297
Jacob Stallings	PH-C	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.167
Corey Dickerson	LF	4	0	3	1	0	1	0	.309
Tyler Glasnow	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Austin Meadows	PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.293
Josh Harrison	2B	4	0	3	1	0	0	1	.265
Jordy Mercer	SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	4	.248
Dovydas Neverauskas	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
David Freese	3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	3	.263
Trevor Williams	SP	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.074
Steven Brault	RP	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.200
Richard Rodriguez	RP	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Max Moroff	SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.196
Totals		39	5	12	5	4	8	21
Batting
2B - Josh Bell (18), Gregory Polanco (21), Josh Harrison (7)
3B - Corey Dickerson (4)
TB - Josh Bell 2, Starling Marte 2, Gregory Polanco 2, Colin Moran, Jordan Luplow, Corey Dickerson 5, Josh Harrison 4
RBI - Starling Marte (37), Colin Moran (34), Elias Diaz (23), Corey Dickerson (34), Josh Harrison (21)
2-Out RBI - Colin Moran (18), Corey Dickerson (13)
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Colin Moran 2 (28), Jordy Mercer 2 (19), David Freese (14), Max Moroff 2 (6)
GIDP - Josh Bell (5)
Team LOB - 13
Baserunning
SB - Starling Marte 3 (21, 2nd off Davis/Knapp, 2nd off Hunter/Knapp, 3rd off Hunter/Knapp), Josh Harrison (3, 2nd off Ramos/Knapp)
Fielding
E - Josh Harrison (3)

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
Trevor Williams (L 6-7)	2.1	5	5	5	2	0	1	4.60
Steven Brault	2.2	1	0	0	1	2	0	4.65
Richard Rodriguez	0.2	2	2	2	3	1	0	2.67
Dovydas Neverauskas	0.2	3	4	4	1	2	0	11.85
Josh Smoker	0.2	2	3	3	2	1	1	11.12
Tyler Glasnow	2.0	5	3	3	1	6	0	5.06
WP - Steven Brault, Richard Rodriguez, Tyler Glasnow
HBP - Cesar Hernandez (by Williams), Andrew Knapp (by Brault)
Pitches-Strikes - Trevor Williams 51-31, Steven Brault 47-27, Richard Rodriguez 28-14, Dovydas Neverauskas 30-18, Josh Smoker 31-17, Tyler Glasnow 49-30
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Trevor Williams 3-3, Steven Brault 2-3, Richard Rodriguez 0-1, Dovydas Neverauskas 0-0, Josh Smoker 1-0, Tyler Glasnow 0-0
Batters Faced - Trevor Williams 15, Steven Brault 11, Richard Rodriguez 7, Dovydas Neverauskas 6, Josh Smoker 6, Tyler Glasnow 12
Inherited Runners-Scored - Steven Brault 2-0, Dovydas Neverauskas 3-0, Josh Smoker 2-2