Pirates blow 6-run lead, as Phillies rally to stay in NL East Division title race

The Philadelphia Phillies continued to prove that no lead is insurmountable while the Pittsburgh Pirates showed that none is safe.

After building a six-run advantage, the Pirates surrendered home runs to Didi Gregorius, Ronald Torreyes and JT Realmuto as the Phillies rallied for a 12-6 win on a rainy Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park.

It marked the second time in three games that the Pirates (57-95) lost after blowing a big lead. They led the Cincinnati Reds by five runs on Monday, only to lose, 9-5.

The Phillies (79-74) continued to overcome big leads, as they cling to their division title hopes, as they trail the Atlanta Braves (80-71) by two games in the NL East. They rallied from a six-run deficit for a 7-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Sept. 2 and a seven-run deficit in a 17-8 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 23. They also recovered from a seven-run deficit against the Nationals for an 11-8 win on July 29.

“It’s very obvious,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “This is a potent lineup. This is an even more potent lineup in this ballpark. It’s just like we talked about with Cincinnati and this ballpark, too. They can make this ballpark look small with the hitters they have. That’s a good lineup one through nine. He’s got six bench players to play with, which makes it more functional to pinch-hit. They beat us because of that.”

Connor Overton got the Pirates off to a strong start, striking out four of the first six batters he faced before delivering a bases-loaded, two-run single for his first major league hit off Aaron Nola in the second inning.

The Pirates got singles up the middle by Colin Moran and Cole Tucker and a walk by Kevin Newman before Michael Perez went down swinging. That brought Overton to the plate for the first time in his major league career and only the sixth time as a professional. Overton hit a bloop that dropped inside the left field line between incoming left fielder Andrew McCutchen and sliding third baseman Freddy Galvis.

Ke’Bryan Hayes followed by hitting Nola’s 3-1 sinker for an opposite-field three-run home run, a 341-foot shot that was his sixth of the season, for a 5-0 lead as the Pirates batted around the order.

Moran started the third by hitting a 1-1 four-seam fastball 432 feet off the second deck facade in right center for his ninth homer to give the Pirates a 6-0 lead.

Then, Shelton said, the Pirates “got kind of passive.”

“We came out and did a nice job off Nola early, then Nola locked it in. This guy’s got good stuff,” Shelton said. “It’s the second time it’s happened on this trip. We have to continue to push when we get leads. That’s just a sign of youth and handling at-bats as we get through the game. It’s something we have to work on and continue to get better at.”

Overton’s string of 13 2/3 scoreless innings to start his major league career ended in the third, when Gregorius drove a 2-2 cutter 438 feet into the second deck in right field for a leadoff homer to cut it to 6-1.

The Phillies would bat around the order in a five-run third, as Nola drew a walk and Odubel Herrera’s double put runners on second and third. Nola scored when Overton’s pitch got past catcher Michael Perez to make it 6-2. It was the first passed ball by a Pirates catcher since Aug. 18, 2020, a 193-game stretch that was the longest in major league history.

The Phillies made it 6-3 on Jean Segura’s sacrifice fly to center that scored Herrera. Overton was pulled after he walked Bryce Harper, and replaced by Cody Ponce. Another passed ball by Perez in the pouring rain allowed Harper to advance to second, and he scored on McCutchen’s double down the left field line. McCutchen then scored on Brad Miller’s single through the middle and, just like that, it was 6-5.

Shelton said Overton appeared to have trouble gripping the ball, but didn’t excuse his walking the pitcher.

“Yeah, that was 100% just because of the rain,” Overton said. “It was like trying to throw a pool cue ball, even the heaters, I would have to try and guide them into the zone because I was afraid if I let it rip. It was just gonna shoot out and hit somebody. The changeup has been my go-to pitch all year, and when I can’t grip that, then I’m kind of just throwing it up there.”

After the rough start, Nola recovered to retire the next 12 batters, getting ahead in counts and pitching with more efficiency.

The Phillies rewarded him in the sixth against lefty Anthony Banda, thanks to three pinch hitters. JT Realmuto hit a leadoff single and advanced to third after a pair of groundouts. The Pirates intentionally walked Matt Vierling, only for Ronald Torreyes to drive a 2-0 fastball to left field for a three-run homer and 8-6 Phillies lead.

Realmuto smacked a two-run homer in the seventh, stretching the Phillies’ lead to 10-6. After the Phillies retired 16 consecutive batters, Bryan Reynolds finally drew a walk off Jose Alvarado in the eighth only for Moran to follow by grounding into an inning-ending double play.

Realmuto, who went 3 for 3 with four RBIs, drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded singled up the middle off Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth to increase the Phillies’ lead to 12-6.

“I feel like they did a really good job once they took the lead,” Hayes said of the Phillies. “Their pitchers were just attacking and getting ahead. In the future, when we have a lead like that, we have to treat it as if it’s a 0-0 ballgame and just get ahead of pitchers and get outs.”