Tyler Glasnow showed the home fans more of the raw, unpolished side of himself than the dreamy one, then he left in the fourth inning with what the team is calling right shoulder discomfort. Then the Pirates broke through for a five-run fifth inning and rolled to a 7-4 victory over the Phillies on Saturday.
Glasnow allowed four hits and three walks and hit two batters -- including Cameron Rupp in the helmet -- in three-plus innings. He struck out two, getting Peter Bourjos to swing at a curve that bounced well in front of the plate.
He also shared my approach from my rec ball days of controlling the running game: Don't. The Phillies stole five bases while he was in the game. Two of those steals help lead to single runs in the first and second innings for Philadelphia.
The 78 pitches Glasnow needed to get as far as he did and the quality of his outing both suggested he wasn't staying in the game long anyway, but Clint Hurdle and trainer Todd Tomczyk suddenly visited Glasnow during Bourjos' fourth-inning at-bat and Glasnow walked off with the trainer. I didn't notice anything obvious happening to Glasnow before that, and he didn't look to be in great pain, but that's really just speculation.
Juan Nicasio cleaned up Glasnow's mess in the fourth, but ran into trouble and gave up a run in the fifth, as did Jared Hughes in the sixth.
The Pirates kept pace with the Phillies early on, countering with a run each in the first and second. Andrew McCutchen doubled and scored on Starling Marte's single in the first, and Josh Harrison tripled and scored on a Jordy Mercer groundout in the second.
Trailing 3-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, the Bucs got to Aaron Nola. Mercer singled, then Matt Joyce and John Jaso walked to load the bases for Gregory Polanco, who plated two with a single. Severino Gonzalez replaced Nola and hit Marte with a pitch to re-load the bases, and a David Freese two-run single and Francisco Cervelli sacrifice fly put the Pirates up, 7-3.
Neftali Feliz bailed Hughes out of a jam, getting the final out of the sixth, then pitched a clean seventh. Tony Watson got through the eighth and Mark Melancon went 1-2-3 in the ninth.
It's always a little awkward to celebrate a win after losing a big guy like that. I have no great insight, but it seems Glasnow won't be sidetracked for long. If anything, his pitching performance was what reminded us he's no sure thing to swoop in and carry the 2016 Pirates to glory.