Kingham Pitches, Hits Pirates To 4-1 Win Over Phillies
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PITTSBURGH (AP) - Nick Kingham pitched six solid innings and had two RBIs, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates avoid a three-game sweep with a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.
In his eighth major league start, Kingham (3-4) allowed one run and four hits with five strikeouts and one walk for his first win since May 4. The right-hander retired the first 20 batters of his MLB debut against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 29 before surrendering four runs in a 6-4 win in his second start.
Kingham's first MLB hit keyed a three-run fourth inning that gave the Pirates a 4-1 lead.
With two outs, and Austin Meadows on third and Jordy Mercer on second, Kingham doubled over left fielder Rhys Hoskins to drive in both runners and put Pittsburgh ahead 3-1. Josh Bell followed with a double to score Kingham.
Kingham got in his first and only jam by allowing the first two batters to reach base in the sixth, but induced Carlos Santana to pop out and struck out Nick Williams and Scott Kingery get out of it.
Felipe Vazquez struck out the side in order in the ninth inning for his 18th save.
Drew Anderson (0-1) allowed four runs and eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk in his 2018 debut for the Phillies.
Pittsburgh snapped its five-game losing streak, while Philadelphia's six-game winning streak ended. The Phillies, who entered Sunday tied with the Atlanta Braves for first in the NL East, lost for the second time in 10 games.
Josh Harrison gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring single to shallow center field in the second inning, before Williams tied it 1-1 in the fourth with a home run, his 11th, to right-center field.
ROSTER MOVE
Phillies: Anderson was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley and RHP Yacksel Rios was optioned to Lehigh Valley.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli (concussion), who hit fifth in his first MLB game since June 21, was activated from the 10-day disabled list. Cervelli doubled off the center-field wall in his first at bat before finishing the day 1 for 3 with one walk and one steal. C Jacob Stallings was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room on the 25-man roster.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (7-2, 2.97) will start the first game of a double header against the New York Mets on Monday. RHP Aaron Nola (11-2, 2.41) will start the second game.
Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (4-6, 4.00) will look to bounce back from allowing seven runs in his last start when he takes the mound against the Washington Nationals on Monday. Nova surrendered those seven runs on nine hits in an 8-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 3 after allowing a combined four runs in his previous four starts.
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