PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates erased three deficits and walked it off vs. the Philadelphia Phillies in the series opener at PNC Park, 5-4.

The Pirates get their first win against the Phillies, after suffering a sweep at Citizens Bank Park, May 16-18. They also improve to 24-40 on the season, 15-18 at home, while the Phillies fall to 37-26 overall and 18-14 on the road.

Pirates left-handed starting pitcher Bailey Falter, who had an historic month of May, struggled at the top of the first inning.

He allowed a leadoff single to shortstop Trea Turner, got designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to pop out, but walked first baseman Alec Bohm, who both moved up to third base and second base, respectively on a double steal.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead on a groundout from right fielder Nick Castellanos, but Falter got out of the inning with catcher J.T. Realmuto hitting a popping out.

Pittsburgh would respond in the bottom of the first inning, as second baseman Nick Gonzales hit a one out triple, his first of the season. Designated hitter Bryan Reynolds responded with a single right off of right-handed relief pitcher Joe Ross, tying it up at 1-1.

Pirates catcher Endy Rodríguez left the game after the first inning with right elbow discomfort, with Henry Davis coming in his place.

Pirates right fielder Adam Frazier hit a one out double in the bottom of the second and then third baseman Jared Triolo walked.

They missed out on an opportunity to take the lead, as Frazier got called out on the double steal and then shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out.

Falter allowed a one out double to Turner in the top of the third inning. He got Schwarber to ground out, moving Turner to third base, but then allowed a single to Bohm, scoring Turner and giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Reynolds came through for the Pirates again in the bottom of the third inning, crushing a first pitch sweeper in the top of the zone from left-handed relief pitcher Tanner Banks for a solo home run, tying it up at 2-2.

Falter loaded the bases to start the top of the fourth inning, by allowing a double to Realmuto, walking third baseman Edmundo Sosa and giving up a single to second baseman Bryson Stott.

He did get left fielder Weston Wilson out on a liner to Oneil Cruz in center field and then struckout center fielder Johan Rojas, but Pirates manager Don Kelly made a pitching change, bringing in right-handed pitcher Chase Shugart.

Shugart would allow a single to Turner past both Kiner-Falefa and Gonzales into center field, scoring Realmuto and Sosa, as the Phillies took a 4-2 lead.

Falter, who only allowed three runs in May, finished his night with four earned runs on five hits and two walks over 3.2 innings.

Pirates left fielder Alexander Canario ledoff the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk and then Davis would hit a cutter on the outside bottom corner from Phillies right-handed pitcher Alan Rangel out into the left field seats for a two-run home run, tying the game up at 4-4.

Both teams struggled to get much going over the next two innings, with just a double each from Castellanos and Davis.

Kiner-Falefa walked and Cruz singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Gonzales and Reynolds both lined out.

The Pirates got great efforts from their bullpen, as Shugart and left-hander Caleb Ferguson each pitched 1.1 innings and 1.2 innings scoreless. Right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana ended the seventh inning and threw a scoreless eighth innng, while fellow right-hander David Bednar struck out the side in the ninth inning.

Frazier opened the bottom of the ninth inning with a bloop single and then Triolo singled to center field. Kiner-Falefa laid down a great bunt, reaching safely after it just stayed fair to load the bases.

Cruz struckout, but Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly out to left field, scoring Frazier and winning the game for the Pirates.

This was Gonzales’ third walk-off and his second vs. the Phillies, doing so last season, July 19, 2024 in an 8-7 victory.

The Pirates will look to win the series vs. the Phillies in the second game on June 7. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m.

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This morning, the front associated with yesterday’s thunderstorm activity stalled near the I-70 corridor with a humid and warm air mass in place in its vicinity. 

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With light winds in place and high levels of humidity near the ground, this has resulted in the development of patchy fog. 

The fog is generally thickest near and northwest of the Pittsburgh metro and will be in place through the next few hours. Some scattered showers are ongoing across Ohio and will move from west to east through sunrise and into the mid-morning hours.  As low-level heating commences, this will allow instability to build up, resulting in a transition from showers to scattered and even numerous thunderstorms developing by 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. and lasting through the evening hours. 

Similar to yesterday, wind shear values aren’t too high, but just enough to allow for pulse storms that could produce localized microbursts of wind up to 60mph, very heavy rain, and at most quarter-sized hail. 

The bulk of the storm activity will shift south toward I-70 and I-68 during the late evening and overnight hours of Saturday. After a few morning showers, most of Saturday into Saturday night is trending drier as we will be in between systems with high pressure to the north. 

On Sunday, moisture will return north ahead of another disturbance. It is likely that showers and numerous thunderstorms will move in during the midday to afternoon hours with this system. An isolated severe storm cannot be ruled out, especially south of Pittsburgh toward the I-70 and I-68 corridors. 

Following Sunday’s system, a more potent upper-level storm system will move in on Monday into Monday evening. This system will have much stronger winds aloft and be accompanied by sufficient moisture and some instability, so we will need to keep an eye on a potentially higher severe weather threat with this system. 

Lingering showers and storms will continue on Tuesday, before a cold front moves in, resulting in drier conditions by the following Wednesday through the end of next week. 

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