PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Chavis made the right call. He just didn’t make the right throw. Didi Gregorious and the surging Philadelphia Phillies were only too happy to take advantage.
Gregorious raced home when Chavis’ attempt to cut down Gregorious at third sailed wide of the target, helping the Phillies edge the sliding Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night.
Philadelphia’s Rhys Hoskins led off the 10th with a sharp grounder to Chavis at first base. Rather than try to beat Hoskins to the bag for an out, Chavis tried to surprise Gregorious he ran from second to third.
The throw handcuffed Pittsburgh third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and rolled into foul territory, allowing the sliding Gregorious to pop up and sprint across the plate to lead the Phillies to their fourth straight win.
Chavis put part of the blame on the grip. He essentially threw a two-seam fastball to Hayes, leading it to dip as it neared third.
“I honestly think it was a pretty decent throw until it just bit,” Chavis said. “If I grab a four-seam, this is a whole different conversation. That’s baseball.”
Corey Knebel (3-5) earned the win by working two scoreless innings, his 14th straight scoreless appearance. Knebel began the bottom of the 10th by picking off Pirates rookie Oneil Cruz at second base, then retired the final two batters as Philadelphia matched a season high by moving seven games over .500 (54-47).
“That was all Corey,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said. “He just felt (Cruz) was getting too big a lead and he was probably going to run. It was a pretty good inside move.”
The baserunning mistake marked the second in as many nights for Cruz. The 6-foot-7 shortstop was doubled off of first base in a loss on Friday night when he partially crossed second base and then neglected to touch…