Philadelphia, PA — The Pittsburgh Pirates delivered one of their most impressive comeback victories of the season Monday night, erasing a five-run deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-7 before a crowd of 49,791 at Citizens Bank Park.
Despite falling behind 5-0 through the first three innings, the Pirates never lost their composure. Instead, they chipped away at Philadelphia’s lead before erupting for six runs in the fifth inning, completely changing the momentum of the game.
Esmerlyn Valdez ignited the comeback with a towering two-run home run, Jared Triolo added his first homer of the season, and Endy Rodríguez put the finishing touches on the rally with a clutch three-run blast in the ninth inning that quieted the sellout crowd.
The Phillies looked poised to cruise to victory early.
Trea Turner opened the scoring with a first-inning home run, Brandon Marsh followed with a blast of his own later in the inning, and Bryce Harper continued his All-Star caliber season by launching his 20th home run of the year in the third inning to give Philadelphia a commanding 5-0 advantage.
Pittsburgh responded in the fourth when Bryan Reynolds lined a double off the top of the left-field wall before Valdez crushed a two-run homer to left, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 5-2 and breathing life into the Pirates’ offense.
The game turned dramatically in the fifth inning.
Triolo led off the inning by connecting on his first home run of the season, and the Pirates continued to apply pressure against Philadelphia’s pitching staff. Tyler Callihan delivered an RBI single, while a costly fielding error by Turner helped extend the inning as Pittsburgh scored six times to take an 8-5 lead.
Veteran right-hander Aaron Nola, who appeared in control during the opening innings, struggled once the Pirates found their rhythm. After allowing multiple home runs, Nola exited in the fifth as Pittsburgh completed its remarkable turnaround.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft recovered nicely after a difficult beginning. Following a rough first three innings, Ashcraft settled in and kept the Phillies off the scoreboard long enough for Pittsburgh’s offense to seize control, earning his eighth win of the season.
Philadelphia attempted one final rally in the eighth inning.
Marsh launched his second home run of the night before J.T. Realmuto added an RBI single to trim the deficit to one run. But with two runners on and two outs, Pirates reliever Yohan Ramírez struck out Justin Crawford in a pivotal moment that preserved Pittsburgh’s lead.
Rodríguez made sure there would be no comeback by the home team.
With two runners aboard in the ninth, the switch-hitting catcher hammered a three-run home run to left field, providing valuable insurance and putting the game out of reach as the fans watched the Pirates complete an impressive comeback victory.
Mason Montgomery closed out the ninth inning to seal the win for Pittsburgh.
Up Next:
The Pirates are scheduled to send right-hander Bubba Chandler (3-7, 4.42 ERA) to the mound Tuesday night against Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez (9-3, 2.13 ERA) as the four-game series continues at Citizens Bank Park.
