The Pittsburgh Pirates completed a stunning three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies with a 2-1 victory Sunday at PNC Park, thanks to a late-game heroics and dominant pitching. Rookie sensation Paul Skenes dazzled into the eighth inning, allowing just one unearned run on two hits, striking out seven, and lowering his ERA to.88 before being pulled with two outs in the eighth.
The decisive moment came when Andrew McCutchen delivered a broken-bat single to right, allowing Oneil Cruz to score after a dramatic slide around third base. The Pirates’ bullpen held on, with Braxton Ashcraft earning his first major league win by recording the final four outs.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez was strong, striking out nine over seven innings but was tagged with the loss after surrendering the go-ahead run in the eighth The defeat extended Philadelphia’s losing streak to five games and marked their ninth loss in the last ten contests.
The Pirates, now 26-40, look to build on this momentum as they open a new series against the Marlins, while the Phillies return home to face the Cubs, hoping to end their skid.
