Philadelphia Phillies vs Pittsburgh Pirates Box Score on May 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 20, 2017

PITTSBURGH -- David Freese homered and Francisco Cervelli and Adam Frazier each drove in a pair of runs to back Ivan Nova as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday at PNC Park.

Nova (4-3) won for the first time since April 29. The veteran right-hander pitched 7 1/3 innings, yielding three runs and nine hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Vince Velasquez (2-4) took the loss for Philadelphia, allowing five runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Nova got into immediate trouble when Cesar Hernandez led off the first inning with a single and Freddy Galvis followed with a double. But he held the Phillies to one run, on Aaron Altherr's groundout. Galvis, who advanced to third, stayed there as Tommy Joseph popped out and Odubel Herrera grounded out.

The Pirates tied the game with two out in the third on Andrew McCutchen's run-scoring single and went ahead in the fourth on Freese's solo home run.

Sending nine hitters to the plate, Pittsburgh scored four runs in the sixth. With one out, Freese walked and John Jaso singled. Both advanced on catcher Cameron Rupp's wild pickoff throw to second, and both scored on Cervelli's single.

Mark Leiter Jr. relieved Velasquez and walked Jordy Mercer. The runners advanced on Nova's sacrifice and scored on Frazier's single to make it 6-1. Frazier had three hits in the game.

The Phillies weren't finished, however. Rupp singled in the seventh to drive in their second run, and it became 6-3 after Altherr's RBI double in the eighth.

Juan Nicasio relieved Nova and got Joseph to ground out, sending Altherr to third. Herrera then hit a smash to the right of Freese, who made a diving stop at third to prevent another run from scoring.

NOTES: The Pirates put RHP Josh Lindblom on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder soreness to clear a roster spot for RHP Jhan Marinez, who was claimed on waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Lindblom has yielded nine earned runs in 10 1/3 innings. ... Pirates 3B Freese was 1-for-19 since coming off the disabled list on May 12 before the home run, his fourth the season. With a single and a walk, he was on base three times. ... RHP Vince Velasquez singled twice off Ivan Nova to raise his batting average to .313 (5-for-16). ... Pirates 1B Josh Bell went 0-for-4 to end his hitting streak at eight games.