Pirates Erase Five-Run Hole, Endy's 9th-Inning Blast Buries Phillies

Pittsburgh trailed 5-0 through three innings and still won 11-7, turning a Phillies showcase into a five-run fifth-inning avalanche capped by a throwing error from Trea Turner. Endy Rodríguez then drove the final nail in the ninth — a 390-foot, three-run homer to right center that swung win probability from 21% to 2% for Philadelphia.

The Phillies looked like they had this one locked early. Turner opened the scoring with a 424-foot shot to left in the first, Marsh followed immediately with one to left center at 389 feet, and by the third inning Harper had gone deep 405 feet to right with Turner aboard, pushing the lead to 5-0. Philadelphia's lineup was doing exactly what it's built to do, and Braxton Ashcraft — who would finish with 8 strikeouts over 6.0 innings — was absorbing damage while Pittsburgh's offense sat dormant.

Then the fifth inning happened, and it happened fast. Valdez got Pittsburgh on the board with a two-run shot to left at 411 feet, Triolo added a solo homer to center at 419 feet, and a Lowe sacrifice fly made it 5-4. From there it unraveled for Philadelphia: an O'Hearn single scored Griffin to tie it, Rodríguez walked to force in Reynolds and give Pittsburgh the lead at 6-5, and then Callihan's grounder to first turned into a two-run gift when Turner's throwing error allowed O'Hearn and Valdez to score. Five runs in the inning, 8-5 Pittsburgh, and the story of the night had completely flipped.

Philadelphia made it interesting in the eighth — Marsh's second homer of the game, this one 416 feet to right center, and a Realmuto RBI single cut the deficit to 8-7 — but the Phillies never got the tying run across. Rodríguez made sure of it. His ninth-inning three-run homer to right center at 390 feet, scoring O'Hearn and Cook, was the kill shot: win probability for Philadelphia collapsed from 21% to 2% on a single swing. Rodríguez finished 2-for-3 with a homer and 4 RBI. Valdez went 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI. Pittsburgh's middle of the order looks like it found something tonight, and Philadelphia's bullpen — which entered a 5-0 lead and surrendered 11 runs — will have a lot to answer for.