Correia Shines in Team Debut But Phils Lose in Extras

Kevin Correia (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Kevin Correia made his debut for the Phillies on Friday night in Pittsburgh, but the Phillies fell in 13 innings to the Pirates by a score of 1-0. The loss marks the team’s seventh in their last ten games.

The problem for both teams wasn’t the lack of hitting, as both teams had seven hits or more in the first nine innings of the game. The problem was that neither team could push the runners across.

The Phillies had men on the corners with one out in the top of the tenth following a leadoff single by Ben Revere, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andres Blanco and to third on the ensuing wild pitch by Jared Hughes. Revere would be stranded there and the Phillies would not score.

In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Pirates had the bases loaded and they too couldn’t push the winning run across.

The Pirates finally broke the tie and ended the game in the bottom of the 13th inning. Chris Stewart reached on an infield single with one away. Stewart advanced to second on the following play when Gregory Polanco grounded out to Ryan Howard at first. With two outs and Stewart on second, Starling Marte grounded the 0-1 pitch from Dustin McGowan back up the middle and into centerfield, allowing Stewart to score the winning run.

Correia went 5.2 scoreless innings pitched in his return to the big leagues. He allowed five hits and walked only one batter while striking out four batters. Correira has spent his career fluctuating between the minor leagues and the big leagues.

Correia looked strong for the majority of the night, working his way into the sixth inning. It was in this inning that he reached his first real danger, allowing runners to reach on first and second for the first time of the night. At that time manager Ryne Sandberg made a move to the bullpen, bringing in Elvis Araujo and ending Correia’s night at 86 pitches.

Correia just couldn’t get any run support, despite the fact that the Phillies having six hits while Correia was on the mound. In the past nine games leading into Friday night, the Phillies scored four or more runs in seven of them.

The Phillies are came into the night after being swept in three games by the Reds. They also dropped two of three to Giants in a weekend series at home after beating the Reds in two of three last week. With the Phillies struggling to keep the runs against low, Correira could bring stability to the struggling pitching staff.