The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat cross-state rivals the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on a sunny, Bob Walk Bobblechair give-away day at beautiful PNC Park
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FINAL: Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Philadelphia Phillies 3
W – Ivan Nova (4-3) L – Vince Velasquez (2-4)
Takeaways
- Adam Frazier – Back in the Pirates line-up today, with the Pirates continuing to handle him with kid gloves to ensure that leg injury heals properly. And in the words of Steve Blass, “All he does is get on base.” After grounding out in his first at-bat, Frazier singled on a line drive in the bottom of the 3rd and went on to score on an Andrew McCutchen single, also to right field, tying the game at 1. He grounded out in the 5th, but then singled in the 6th, scoring Cervelli and Jordy Mercer. He singled again in the 8th. (PS – He also made a nice catch in left field in the 7th)
- David Freese‘s hustle in the 6th when Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp botched a pick off attempt at second. Freese easily made it to third and then home on a Cervelli double.
- Bob Walk Bobblechair Day – Beloved curmudgeonly color man Bob Walk took a tumble during the radio broadcast in Seattle last season and this season, proving that they are the masters of a great joke, the Pirates made a “bobblehead” out of it. The first 20,000 fans at PNC today received a Bob Walk Bobblechair souvenir and the ribbing was non-stop on TV and radio throughout the game. This is the best reminder there is that baseball is a game and it’s meant to be enjoyed.
Throwaways
- The Bucs bats were sluggish in today’s game to start, but got red hot in the 6th when the team scored 4 runs.
- Sloppy defense – Josh Harrison mishandled a ball hit practically to him by centerfielder Odubel Herrera in the 4th, and Ivan Nova’s bad throw to first in the 8th on a Cesar Hernandez bunt was well off the mark, eventually resulting in Hernadez scoring, bringing the game to 3-6. These are avoidable mistakes.
Line of the Night
Without a doubt it’s Ivan Nova. He went 7.1 innings, gave up 9 hits, three runs, struck out 3 and of course, walked no one. Just astounding.
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Up Next
The cross-state showdown concludes at 1:35 p.m. at PNC Park. Chad Kuhl (1-4) battles the Phillies’ Aaron Nola (2-0).
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