Phillies rally from 6 down, beat Bucs 12-6 to gain on Braves

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — J.T. Realmuto homered and drove in four, Ronald Torreyes hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies erased a six-run deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6 Thursday night and pick up ground in the NL East.

Didi Gregorius also homered for the Phillies, who have won three straight and seven of nine to get within two games of first-place Atlanta with nine games left.

It's the fourth time this season and third time this month Philadelphia won after trailing by at least six runs.

The Phillies are the first team in the modern era to win by at least six after trailing by at least six twice in the same season, according to STATS. The other was last week, when they rallied from down 7-0 in the fourth inning to defeat the Chicago Cubs 17-8 on Sept. 16.

“Well, hopefully we just keep the momentum going,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said.

The club finishes its home schedule with three more against the 95-loss Pirates before ending the regular season with six on the road, beginning Tuesday with the first of a three-game set in Atlanta.

Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran homered for the Pirates on a cool, rainy night.

Aaron Nola (9-8) bounced back from a shaky start that saw Pittsburgh take a 6-0 lead.

“Just the grit from the guys,” Nola said of the key to the comeback. “They were confident they were going to score runs. You could feel it. It’s pretty cool.”

The Phillies went ahead in the sixth. Realmuto, who was held out of the starting lineup to rest, led off with a pinch-hit single. After two groundouts, the Pirates intentionally walked pinch-hitter Matt Vierling. Torreyes, pinch-hitting for Nola, followed and lined a 2-0 fastball from Anthony Banda (2-2) over the wall in left to put the Phillies up 8-6.

“I was...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Phillies-rally-from-6-down-beat-Bucs-12-6-to-16483636.php