Pirates Drop 6th Straight

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Chavis made the right call. He just didn’t make the right throw. Didi Gregorious and the surging Philadelphia Phillies were only too happy to take advantage. Gregorious raced home when Chavis’ attempt to cut down Gregorious at third sailed wide of the target, helping the Phillies edge the sliding Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night. Philadelphia’s Rhys Hoskins led off the 10th with a sharp grounder to Chavis at first base. Rather than try to beat Hoskins to the bag for an out, Chavis tried to surprise Gregorious he ran from second to third. The throw handcuffed Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and rolled into foul territory, allowing the sliding Gregorious to pop up and sprint across the plate to lead the Phillies to their fourth straight win. Chavis put part of the blame on the grip. He essentially threw a two-seam fastball to Hayes, leading it to dip as it neared third. Corey Knebel (3-5) earned the win by working two scoreless innings, his 14th straight scoreless appearance. Knebel began the bottom of the 10th by picking off Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz at second base, then retired the final two batters as Philadelphia matched a season-high by moving seven games over .500 (54-47). The baserunning mistake marked the second in as many nights for Cruz. The 6-foot-7 shortstop was doubled off of first base in a loss on Friday night when he partially crossed second base and then neglected to touch it while returning to first on a fly out by a teammate. J.T. Realmuto had two of Philadelphia’s six hits, including his 10th home run of the season leading off the sixth. Pittsburgh’s Cal Mitchell tied the game in the seventh with his fourth home run, turning on a 99 mph fastball from Jose Alvardo and sending it into the right-field seats. Chavis had two singles for the Pirates, who were limited to four hits. Yerry De Los Santos took the loss (0-3). The Pirates have dropped six consecutive games, all by two runs or less.