PITTSBURGH -- David Freese predicts that teammate Adam Frazier might win a batting championship at some point. That's lofty praise, especially for a second-year player who only recently became a regular in the Pittsburgh Pirates' lineup.

Frazier, though, is making a case that he might be something special.

The so-called super-utility player had three hits, drove in two runs, scored a run and stole a base as the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-3 on Saturday at PNC Park.

"I've got to make sure he gets enough at-bats," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said, half-jokingly, as Frazier raised his batting average to .358. "He's painting his own picture, he's telling his own story."

Told of Freese's assessment, Frazier, who is playing left field regularly these days in place of an injured Gregory Polanco and had a career-high four RBIs on Thursday, said: "That would be nice. A long way to go for that, though. You just try to do it each day and go from there."

"He's just a big-league hitter," Freese said. "He hits the inside part of the ball. That's huge. That's how you sleep at night. You hit the inside part of the ball, you give yourself a chance. If you look at the best hitters in the league, that's what they do."

Freese, who was struggling since coming off the disabled list on May 12, hit a solo homer to break a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning off Phillies starter and loser Vince Velasquez (2-4). He also turned in a stellar defensive play in the eighth to stifle a possible comeback by Philadelphia.

"He made things happen on both sides of the ball," Hurdle said.

Francisco Cervelli drove in two runs for the Pirates and starter Ivan Nova pitched 7 1/3 efficient innings. Nova, who won for the first time since April 29, surrendered all three runs and gave up nine hits, but did not walk a batter and recorded 14 of his 22 outs via the ground ball.

"I got a lot quick outs, made a lot of good pitches with my pitches. I liked it," Nova said. "The one thing I know is the guys are always going to play good defense behind me. They're going to play hard, they're going to hustle."

Nova got into immediate trouble when Cesar Hernandez led off the first inning with a single and Freddy Galvis followed with a double. But he held the Phillies to one run, on Aaron Altherr's groundout. Galvis, who advanced to third, stayed there as Tommy Joseph popped out and Odubel Herrera grounded out.

From that point, Nova was in command. Asked if he made any adjustments, he replied, "Not really. After that, I just started making my pitches."

Not Velasquez, whose ERA is now 5.98. He was effective early but faltered as the Pirates began to lay off his high fastballs. He had no answer and was practically despondent afterward.

"Just a lack of commitment, a lack of concentration, just a lack of everything," Velasquez said. "Geez, even in my golf game, everything is just a lack of everything. I'm just clueless right now. I'm just running like a chicken without a head. It's like, I don't know what I have to do, but I know there's something."

NOTES: The Pirates put RHP Josh Lindblom on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder soreness to clear a roster spot for RHP Jhan Marinez, who was claimed on waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Lindblom has yielded nine earned runs in 10 1/3 innings. ... Pirates 3B David Freese was 1-for-19 since coming off the disabled list on May 12 before his home run Saturday, his fourth the season. With a single and a walk, he was on base three times. ... Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez singled twice off Pittsburgh RHP Ivan Nova to raise his batting average to .313 (5-for-16). ... Pirates 1B Josh Bell went 0-for-4 to end his hitting streak at seven games.