PITTSBURGH _ The distance from Indianapolis to Pittsburgh is 350 miles. Some days the distance from the minor leagues to the majors feels far greater. Haunted by the same problems he pitched around in the minors, right-hander Tyler Glasnow was robbed blind Saturday. The Philadelphia Phillies stole at once and at will off Glasnow before the Pirates offense roared to life and stole a 7-4 win.
By the time the Pirates pieced together a five-run fifth inning to storm ahead, Glasnow already was in the clubhouse. His second career start lasted three-plus troubled innings. He was removed, officially, due to right shoulder discomfort. The five stolen bases in five tries didn't help, nor did the four hits, three walks and two hit by pitch over the course of 18 batters.
"I don't know," Glasnow said afterward, still gathering his thoughts. "It's hard for me to come up here and tell everyone that my shoulder was bad, so I threw bad. I definitely wasn't 100 percent, but you're not going to be 100 percent a lot of games. You've got to go out and throw with what you have. I will not blame anything on anything. Just have to go out, do better and be well."
To come away with a no-decision was a relief. Glasnow tipped his cap to the offense and bullpen.
"It was good to come and see them win," Glasnow said. "To be honest, I didn't want to come out of the game like that, after three innings, and lose the game."
Only one earned was charged to Glasnow's ledger, though his fielding error in the second led to an unearned run. Glasnow was helped by the Phillies' inability to take full advantage of his mistakes _ they left 14 runners on base in the game. He worked out of the stretch often and was slow to the plate. At this point, he has an irrelevant pick-off move and a long, deliberate delivery.
"He's a very tall man with long levers," Hurdle said. "It's something he's worked extremely hard on in the minor leagues, and he's going to have to continue to work on it."
Glasnow was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis before the game. Baserunners had an 81 percent success rate stealing against him in the minors. The Phillies had not stolen five bases in a game since July 11, 2009, also against the Pirates.
Hurdle has not revealed whether Glasnow is here to stay. An injury could make the point moot.
In the first, the Phillies got a run on a walk, a stolen base and two singles. In the second, Glasnow missed the bag while covering first and was issued an error. Freddy Galvis swiped second and scored an unearned run on Cesar Hernandez's single. Hernandez stole second.
The Pirates offense, after playing dead during Phillies rookie Zach Eflin's three-hitter Friday night, stayed level through Glasnow's rocky start. They pushed across a run on an Andrew McCutchen double and a Starling Marte single in the first, and another in the second when Josh Harrison tripled and Jordy Mercer grounded out to the right side to even the score, 2-2.
"Just good, quality at-bats," Hurdle said.
Glasnow's third inning was scoreless but hairy. After Odubel Herrera singled and stole second, Glasnow walked Tommy Joseph. Pitching coach Ray Searage paid Glasnow a visit, and the next pitch, a 91-mph fastball, hit Cameron Rupp in the head and sent his batting helmet flying. After the dust settled and Rupp exited, Glasnow escaped unscathed with a pop fly and a grounder.
A leadoff walk, a steal and a hit by pitch in the fourth ended Glasnow's abbreviated outing.
After the game, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin still was ruffled by the two hit by pitch.
"The Pirates have a tendency to pitch inside," he said. "That's part of their program. I don't have an issue with that. If they want to pitch inside, we can pitch inside too. However, today, I have an issue. If you're going to pitch inside and you're going to hit a guy in the head, you shouldn't be here.
"You shouldn't be here."
Right-hander Juan Nicasio cleaned up Glasnow's mess in the fourth but gave up a run on three singles in the fifth. In the sixth, the Phillies scored a run off right-hander Jared Hughes.
The Pirates' five-run outburst in the fifth began with Jordy Mercer's leadoff single. Two walks loaded the bases, and after a mound visit the Phillies elected to stick with righty Aaron Nola. The decision backfired. Polanco ripped a two-run single to right, chasing Nola and giving the Pirates their first lead. RBIs No. 52 and 53 marked a new career-high for Polanco.
"He's growing. He's learning. He's challenging himself," Hurdle said. "It's fun to watch."
Marte was hit by pitch, loading the bases again, and David Freese poked a two-strike pitch the other way for a two-run single. Francisco Cervelli's sacrifice fly made it 7-3.
