Phillies score late to beat Pirates, Jean Segura’s hustle keys eighth inning insurance run

PITTSBURGH — Jean Segura fouled off nine pitches Friday night in his eighth-inning at-bat before he finally put a ball in play. It was a two-out dribbler to the left of first base, appearing to be an easy inning-ender. Segura had worked for 13 pitches against Pirates reliever Kyle Crick. He was gassed.

But so was the pitcher, who had to scramble to first base after Segura’s dribbler took Josh Bell away from the bag. If the Phillies were going to find some breathing room in a 6-1 win at PNC Park, Segura would need to find the energy to sprint 90 feet with a bum heel and beat the red-faced and sweating Crick to first.

He did, by the narrowest of margins, and another run scored to put the Phillies ahead by two. The Phillies started their five-game road trip — a winnable stretch against the Pirates and Tigers — on the right note. And Segura, who was dinged earlier this season for not hustling, set the tone with his all-out sprint.

“I’m still sore a little bit but at the end of the day, I have to hustle,” Segura said. “That’s baseball. You play through injuries. You play through pain. It made me feel even better because I know my teammates are behind me and they see that.”

The at-bat was both grueling and an incredible test of wills between the batter and pitcher. The game, Phillies starter Jake Arrieta said, could be summed up by the sequence. Segura fouled off his fastballs. He hacked away his sliders. The crowd, understanding the importance of the at-bat, rose to its feet as the battle deepened.

Segura and Crick refused to give in, not even when they both seemed to reach first base at the same time. A replay review upheld the ruling on the field. Segura was safe.

“The hustle thing, I think is a little overblown,” Arrieta said of the criticism Segura received earlier this season. “You hit a routine ground ball to the infield and guys in the big leagues make that play. What’s the point of being out by two steps versus three or four steps? That doesn’t concern us here. He has the understanding and awareness to know when to really get after it. That at-bat tonight, the ground ball, is one of those times. I don’t want to see him run 100 percent to first base every time. None of the other guys in here do. But in the right situation, like tonight, he does it. And it paid off for us."

The extra run provided some comfort when a shorthanded bullpen handed the ball to Cole Irvin for the final two innings. The Phillies bullpen, on a night when Kapler hoped to stay away from his most-trusted arms, recorded 10 outs in relief of Arrieta, who battled through his elbow bone spur for an impressive start. Left fielder Adam Haseley threw out a runner trying to stretch a single in the fourth inning, started the fifth with a tying homer, and hit an RBI double off the wall to cap a three-run ninth.

The Phillies survived a seven-game homestand this week thanks to Bryce Harper keying both wins over the Dodgers with late hits. They return home next Friday to face the first-place Braves, and what the Phillies can do before then will be crucial. Again on Friday, it was Harper who provided the key hit.

He slapped a two-out single in the seventh to break a 1-1 tie, coming through yet again with runners in scoring position in a month that has been full of productive at-bats. The Phillies have won two games in a row for the first time since July 2.

Harper entered Friday with a .981 OPS in his last 102 plate appearances and has the second-best batting average (.412) in the majors with runners in scoring position. If the Phillies are to make a run this summer, it will likely fall on Harper to lead them. He seems to be heating up just in time.

“He goes up there with a very specific mindset of doing damage and driving in runs," manager Gabe Kapler said. “I think in those situations, pitchers are a little bit tighter. And when you’re a little tighter, you tend to make mistakes. Bryce is pretty good at punishing mistakes.”

Before Harper delivered, Arrieta was as impressive as he was efficient through the first five innings. The marble-sized bone spur causes him the most pain when his pitch counts hovers around 80 to 90 pitches. So it was vital that he worked quickly. And he did, needing just 72 pitches to navigate through the first five innings. His only run came in the second inning.

“That was a really gritty, gutsy performance,” Kapler said. “He’s still not feeling his best but he’s certainly fighting and leading in a way that our young players can emulate.”

But the sixth inning would present an obvious challenge. Arrieta was nearing his pitch-count threshold and would have to navigate Pittsburgh’s lineup for a third time, which is when opponents hit him best.

He retired the first two batters and then walked power-hitter Josh Bell. Colin Moran smacked Arrieta’s 87th pitch for a double to right-center and the Phillies intentionally walked Corey Dickerson to load the bases for Kyle Newman. In came Juan Nicasio, with the game tied and two outs.

An inning later, Harper would be standing at first and waving to the dugout after a big hit. Two innings later, Segura would be busting down the line three days after he left a game with a sore heel. Three innings later, Haseley would be driving in another run. But first, Nicasio had to keep the game tied. He did. Newman grounded out to the mound. And an impressive night was ready to unfold.

“It was really impressive,” Arrieta said. “It was a good win for us to start the series.”