Hellickson spoils Cole's return as Phillies top Pirates
PHILADELPHIA -- Jeremy Hellickson took care of the Pirates on the mound to spoil the return of ace Gerritt Cole, and the Philadelphia Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Pittsburgh 6-2 on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Hellickson worked through a rough first inning and threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball. The veteran anchor for a young Phillies pitching staff scattered three hits and struck out six against three walks. He improved to 11-9 on the year.
Cole's return did nothing to stop the slide of the Pirates, who have lost four straight and 12 of their last 14 games.
The Pittsburgh ace made his first start since landing on the disabled list (elbow) in late August. He lasted just two innings. The Phillies tagged him for five runs on four hits.
Cole needed 55 pitches to get through his two innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Pittsburgh struck first, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. A weak ground ball off the bat of Gregory Polanco managed to get through Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and into the outfield, allowing Josh Bell to score.
The Phillies got that run back in the second inning, and much more.
Freddy Galvis hit his 18th home run of the season, a one-out line drive to right field, to even the score at 1-1. Two batters later, Cody Asche belted an RBI double off the wall in right field for a 2-1 lead.
Then, Cole lost control and walked Hellickson and Cesar Hernandez to load the bases for Roman Quinn, who hit a two-run double into the corner in left field. Maikel Franco's RBI groundout gave the Phillies a 5-1 lead after two innings.
Quinn hit another double in the sixth inning, nearly notching his first career home run. Hernandez scored when Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer fumbled with the ball on the relay into the infield.
Sean Rodriguez smacked an RBI single in the top of the ninth with two outs off Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez to give the game its final score.
NOTES: Pittsburgh INF/OF Josh Harrison was diagnosed with a right groin strain, and his season is over. ... Phillies C Jorge Alfaro will likely make his first start behind the plate Tuesday night. Alfaro is part of a successful 2016 for Phillies farm teams. For the first time since 1953, every Philadelphia domestic minor league affiliate finished above .500. ... The Pirates, who have slid farther away from a wild-card playoff spot thanks to a 2-11 stretch entering Monday, opened an 11-game road trip. ... On Tuesday night, RHP Ivan Nova (12-6, 4.13 ERA) starts for the Pirates against RHP Alec Asher (1-0, 0.00) in the second game of the four-game series in Philadelphia.