Tony Watson had already allowed one run and loaded the bases with no outs. It was not an ideal situation for him however he induced three ground ball outs which ended the threat.
Meanwhile, Gerrit Cole earned his league-leading 10th win of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by a 4-3 score Saturday afternoon.
“I think we’re playing our brand of baseball,” Cole said. “I think we’re playing really sharp D and stringing together at-bats throughout the game and then we’re pitching.”
This also secured a series victory for the Pirates who are now 8-3 in the month of June while on a three-game winning streak.
Cole is now 10-2 on the season and his ERA dropped from 1.73 to 1.71. He allowed two runs [one earned] in six innings on five hits and 93 pitches, 65 for strikes.
“It’s [the 10 wins] a stat that all pitchers care about but it’s a stat you don’t always have the most control over,” said Cole. “The way I look at it is we’ve played really well as a unit out there every time I’ve stepped on the field.”
The Phillies scored first on a Chase Utley sacrifice fly however the Pirates answered back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Gregory Polanco opened with a single and stole second base, his 17th of the season. He advanced on a Starling Marte fielder’s choice that third baseman Maikel Franco could not hold onto. Andrew McCutchen also grounded into a fielder’s choice but Carlos Ruiz was unable to handle Freddy Galvis’s throw.
“When you’ve got speed and use it, sometimes those breaks go your way and sometimes they force things to happen,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “That’s a tough read for a guy when the ball is hit to your left even though you know the shortstop’s there. The play at home, that’s a guy breaking on contact and you make them make plays, it’s not always easy up here. We were able to force the issue a couple of times early and take advantage of it.”
Two batters later Josh Harrison singled to bring home a second run.
The Pirates struck for another two runs in the second inning. Jung Ho Kang led off the inning with a single and Chris Stewart walked. A Cole sacrifice bunt led to a Marte single two batters later. McCutchen picked up his second RBI of the game on a single.
Cole allowed his lone earned run in the fourth inning. Franco doubled to left field and would score on a Galvis RBI ground out.
Watson allowed a run in the eighth inning after allowing a double, a single and another single. The first single came from Jeff Francoeur and scored Ben Revere. A walk to Ryan Howard loaded the bases however Franco, Cody Asche and Galvis all grounded out much to the delight of a sellout crowd.
“We work on that in Spring Training to be honest with you,” said Watson. “It’s usually a suicide squeeze. You come in and try to bare hand it, it’s do or die. Stew played it smart and stayed at home and we got the out.”
Hurdle admired the effort and said he did not take it for granted.
“He’s continued to write new chapters in his book since he’s become a Pirate,” Hurdle said. “That’s just grit, that’s determination, that’s skills and that is location on top of all that. These guys go out there and pour everything they have into it.”
Mark Melancon pitched the bottom of the ninth inning and earned his 20th save of the season. His 69 career saves as a Pirate are one behind Jose Mesa for fifth in team history.
Sean O’Sullivan suffered the loss falling to 1-5 on the season.
Sunday marks the series finale and A.J. Burnett [6-2 2.11 ERA] will face Cole Hamels [5-5 3.19 ERA]. Burnett is 7-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 21 career appearances [20 starts] against the Phillies. Hamels has a 3-2 career record against the Pirates with a 2.73 ERA in eight starts.
Photo credit: Jared Wickerham/Getty
