PHILADELPHIA — It was Fan Appreciation Day on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, with the Phillies saying thank you to their fans with a series of giveaways. While the freebies also extended onto the field, with Philadelphia pitchers handing out 11 free passes, the Pirates made it their own sort of holiday.
It was Kids Run The Show Day, with several of their younger players — and likely parts of their future — shining.
Max Kranick was excellent, David Bednar returned, Cole Tucker and Ke’Bryan Hayes had big days at the plate, and the Pirates salvaged one game of this frustrating series with a 6-0 victory over the Phillies before flying to Cincinnati to conclude this lengthy trip.
Tucker homered on the first pitch of the game and reached base four times, though he did make an out when taking too wide of a turn around second in the eighth. Hayes had a pinch-hit, two-run double in the seventh, which broke this one open, while Bednar delivered a scoreless inning of relief, his first outing since Sept. 7 due to a right oblique strain. Kranick went five scoreless and earned the win.
Hayes and Kranick are 24. Tucker is 25, and Bednar is 26. Hayes, Kranick and Bednar have shown they should be part of the Pirates future, and it seems like Tucker has been making his own pitch recently, with this current road trip being the best he’s looked during his time with the big club.
With Hayes getting the day off, Tucker started at second and hit leadoff, a spot where he’s said he feels plenty comfortable. Getting an inside fastball from Phillies starter Hans Crouse, who was making his MLB debut, Tucker hit one that glanced off the right-field foul pole for his first home run of the season.
The homer snapped a stretch of seven at-bats without a hit for Tucker, who was on base three times thanks to a fourth-inning single and a pair of walks.
But as quickly as Tucker gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead, they initially had trouble building on it. Pittsburgh stranded two in the first, one in the second and two each in the third and fourth — seven total. Five of those seven baserunners came on walks, as Phillies pitchers had trouble throwing strikes.
The wildness caught up with Philadelphia in the seventh inning, when Jose Alvarado walked the bases loaded and Hayes — pinch-hitting for Ben Gamel — made him pay. Hayes smacked the first pitch he saw, a 100 mph sinker, the opposite way for a two-run double.
Tucker and Bryan Reynolds scored easily before third-base coach Joey Cora got greedy and tried to send Colin Moran. Same as several times this season, Moran was thrown out by several steps.
It’s easy to feel good about what Max Kranick did Sunday, the right-hander making his eighth start of the season and second since he was recalled on Sept. 19.
After striking out a career-high six in his last start, Kranick had similarly solid stuff on Sunday, giving the Pirates five scoreless innings while allowing four hits (a double to Odubel Herrera), three walks and fanning five.
Kranick failed to record a 1-2-3 inning, but he also didn’t allow a runner to reach second base in three of his five innings. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto had a chance with two on and two out in the third, but Kranick struck him out swinging on an excellent slider.
After the Pirates intentionally walked Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper to put two aboard in the fifth, Kranick got Realmuto again, this time on a slider the Phillies catcher bounced to short, ending the inning.
On a day where Kranick gave the Pirates some solid starting pitching, they also welcomed Bednar back from the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain and watched him pitch a scoreless seventh inning, striking out one.
There was plenty of zip on Bednar's fastball, as it averaged 96.5 mph and topped out at 97.2 mph. He also threw several sharp curveballs. While it's clear Bednar doesn't have much left to prove to the Pirates — he's absolutely part of their future plans and should start the 2022 season as their closer — they’ll never turn down his services.
As the Phillies' control problems continued, the Pirates found themselves with the bases loaded in the eighth. That's when Yoshi Tsutsugo — who began the game hitting .500 with 15 RBIs in 20 at-bats with the Pirates when there were runners in scoring position — bounced a slider through the right side, scoring two more to increase the Pirates' lead to 5-0.
Hayes singled and scored in the ninth, taking advantage of a passed ball, a wild pitch and a balk, one of two from Phillies pitchers on a sloppy day for that group.
