If you’re a Pirates fan, you may have wondered when the other shoe would drop as they were on their way to a 9-2 start to the 2024 season.

I can’t say that I blame you for that, and you might have had a sinking feeling when they blew a game against the Tigers at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon after going into the top of the ninth inning with a 3-1 lead.

Your feelings may have sunk even lower on Thursday night when Pittsburgh quietly fell to the Phillies by a score of 5-1 at Citizens Bank Park.

Big deal, though, right? Two-game losing streaks happen all the time in sports, especially baseball. But these are the Pirates.

Fortunately for Pirates fans, their biggest concern coming out of spring training–starting pitching–has been the team’s greatest strength early in the regular season. It remained a strength on Friday evening, when ex-Phillie Bailey Falter pitched five strong innings, allowing one run on four hits, as Pittsburgh won, 5-2, to improve to 10-4. It was the first victory of the season for Falter, who had fans and the media questioning why he was even a part of the rotation after a very shaky first start on Easter Sunday.

After getting off to a piping hot start, Pittsburgh’s hitters have been a little quiet lately, and that remained the same on Friday, despite the five runs.

Catcher Henry Davis was credited with an RBI to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but it came on a bases-loaded walk. First baseman Connor Joe singled to left field to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but the hit became a reality when Phillies shortstop Trea Turner tripped while trying to field what looked to be an easy ground out.

Henry Davis scored the Pirates third run in the top of the seventh inning on a pass ball after third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes struck out looking, and the pitch crossed up Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who wasn’t expecting the 95 mph fastball that struck him flush in the wrist.

The Pirates got two insurance runs in the top of the eighth inning, and did so in a more traditional sense, when Davis doubled to score second baseman Jared Triolo, and outfielder Bryan Reynolds singled to plate Davis.

Closer David Bednar, who came under fire from the home fans on Tuesday after blowing his third save in four opportunities, looked like his old All-Star self, as he retired the Phillies in order to earn his second save.