 pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Hector Neris blanked Pittsburgh in the ninth to earn his third save in four tries.After Hernandez led off the eighth with a double and Santana grounded out, Herrera lined an 86-mph cutter from George Kontos (1-2) on a 1-2 count just inside the first-base bag to score Hernandez and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.Rhys Hoskins walked to put runners on first and third with one out before as bizarre a double play as you'll see ended the inning. Kontos had Hoskins picked off, but first baseman Josh Bell threw home to get Herrera, who broke for the plate on the play. Hoskins then lost track of where he was and also was out on a caught stealing double play that was scored 1-3-4-2-5-8-7.The Pirates threatened in the ninth when Jordy Mercer doubled with one out, but David Freese popped out in the infield and Adam Frazier grounded out.After a promising 11-3 start, Pittsburgh has dropped four of five.The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the sixth. Francisco Cervelli was hit by a pitch, went to third on Colin Moran's double and scored on Mercer's sacrifice fly to right.Philadelphia tied it in the bottom half when Santana scored on Hoskins' fielder's choice grounder to third. Santana reached third on Herrera's single to right, and Herrera tied a career high on the hit by reaching base safely in 21 straight games.Ben Lively had his best outing in his fourth start for Philadelphia, allowing a run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in six innings.Pirates starter Ivan Nova had similar numbers, giving up a run on five hits in six innings. Nova struck out three and walked none, and has fanned 21 batters against one walk in his last four starts.TRAINER'S ROOMPirates: RHP A. J. Schugel (right shoulder discomfort) will make his next start at Triple-A Indianapolis. Schugel threw a scoreless inning at Single-A Bradenton on Wednesday.Phillies: Right-handed reliever Tommy Hunter pitched a scoreless inning, striking out two, at Double-A Reading on Friday night. Hunter, who has been sidelined all season with a strained right hamstring, made 20 pitches in his second rehab outing.UP NEXTPhillies RHP Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.22) opposes Pirates LHP Steven Brault (2-1, 4.74) in the third game of the four-game set Saturday.)
Pirates, Phillies try to continue encouraging starts 3h ago• 2 min read Pennsylvania's pair of big league teams both have new-look rosters in 2018. They've been working this season for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies.The Pirates and Phillies, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in their divisions last season, have started on the right foot in 2018. They'll meet for the second contest of a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.The Phillies (11-7) took the first game of the series 7-0 on Thursday, improving to 6-1 at home under first-year manager Gabe Kapler. The Pirates (12-7), meanwhile, enter the weekend atop the National League Central despite losing three of their last four games."This Philly team went through a number of changes in the offseason. We went through a number of changes in the offseason," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Both teams are off to a representative start. They're exciting, they're young, they have some skills, they got some experienced players along helping the way. I think it's good for everybody." The Pirates average 5.2 runs per game this season, but they've been shut out in two of their last three games. Pittsburgh will see second-year right-hander Ben Lively on Friday.Lively (0-1, 5.87 ERA) had his shortest of three 2018 starts his last time out. He went four innings against the Rays, allowing three runs on seven hits Sunday in a 10-4 victory for the Phillies. The 26-year-old went 5 2/3 innings in each of his first two starts."I could have performed better but I'm going to be smiling today because we got the win," Lively told MLB.com after his last outing.Lively has faced the Pirates once in his career, giving up four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk last July.Ivan Nova will be making his fifth start of the season for the Pirates. The right-hander has looked sharp in his previous two outings.Nova (2-1, 4.88 ERA) has pitched into the seventh inning and picked up wins in his last two starts, and has 15 strikeouts with no walks over that span. He struck out nine while giving up three runs on six hits against the Marlins on Sunday."I just stayed focused," Nova told MLB.com after the start. "The curveball is something I've been working on. I have confidence in it now, so I'm going to keep using it. The fastball is something I wasn't doing last year. I've put that in play, and it's working really good." Nova has had success against Philadelphia during his nine seasons in the majors. He is 2-1 with a 4.77 ERA and 1.08 WHIP against the Phillies in four starts.The Phillies knocked out Pirates right-hander Jameson Taillon in the second inning of Thursday's series opener. Rhys Hoskins hit his third home run of the season in the second and is hitting .327 with an 1.105 OPS this season, and enters Friday's game on a six-game hitting streak.Cory Dickerson leads Pirates regulars with a .313 average but is 1-for-11 in his last three games.
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