Phillies add to Pirates' late-season struggles
PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Phillies had 15 hits in a 6-2 win as the Pittsburgh Pirates late-season struggles continued Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia got home runs from Freddy Galvis and Tommy Joseph, and on the mound, rookie Jake Thompson provided six strong innings. Every starting position player for the Phillies had a hit, and six players had multi-hit games.
The loss was the 13th in 16 games for Pittsburgh, which is now 70-74 and has seen its National League wild card hopes take a major hit in the last two-and-a-half weeks. The Pirates trail the Mets by six games for the league's second wild-card spot, and their playoff elimination number sits at 12 heading into Thursday's series finale in Philadelphia.
The Phillies offensive outburst started in the second inning when Galvis hit a two-run homer to start the scoring. The homer was Galvis' third in four games and his eighth in 24 contests.
Philadelphia kept piling it on against Pirates starter Steven Brault. Every Phillies position player recorded a hit by the fourth inning. Two more runs scored in the third, one on a Cameron Rupp double and another on an error, and Maikel Franco added an RBI double in the fourth to chase Brault.
The Pirates rookie allowed five runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings, and he gave up nine hits -- all in the span of 16 batters. It was the shortest of the lefty's four Major League outings, and his ERA rose to 3.90.
Thompson ended up recording three inning-ending double plays, doing so in the first, fifth and sixth frames. The rookie got his second major league win in his eighth start, going six innings while allowing two runs on six hits to go with a trio of strikeouts and walks.
It was the fourth consecutive start in which Thompson has allowed two earned runs or less, as he seems to be getting his footing at baseball's top level. After a forgettable first four starts when Thompson registered a 9.78 ERA, he has a 2.49 ERA in his latest four.
The Pirates offense all came in the fourth inning. Andrew McCutchen got Pittsburgh on the board with a solo home run, his 21st of the season which ties him for the team lead with Gregory Polanco. It was Polanco who scored the other run in the frame, crossing the plate on a Sean Rodriguez sacrifice fly.
Pittsburgh had nine hits on the night and walked six times, but could not generate any other runs. The Pirates threatened off the Phillies bullpen in the ninth with two hits in the inning, but Rodriguez was thrown out by center fielder Roman Quinn trying to score with one out, a call that was confirmed after a video review.
Jeanmar Gomez got the final two outs for the Phillies with runners on for his 37th save.
The Phillies offensive outburst started in the second inning when Galvis hit a two-run homer to start the scoring. The homer was Galvis' third in four games and his eighth in 24 contests.
Philadelphia kept piling it on against Pirates starter Steven Brault. Every Phillies position player recorded a hit by the fourth inning. Two more runs scored in the third, one on a Cameron Rupp double and another on an error, and Maikel Franco added an RBI double in the fourth to chase Brault.
The Pirates rookie allowed five runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings, and he gave up nine hits -- all in the span of 16 batters. It was the shortest of the lefty's four major league outings, and his ERA rose to 3.90.
Meanwhile, Phillies starter Jake Thompson ran into trouble in the first inning as the Pirates led off with two singles and loaded the bases with a one-out walk. But Thompson got David Freese to ground into a 6-4-3 double play and escape the threat.
NOTES: Major League Baseball released the 2017 regular-season schedule with the Phillies opening their campaign against the Reds in Cincinnati on April 3. Philadelphia's home opener will come four days later as it welcomes the Washington Nationals to Citizens Bank Park. ... The Pirates' 2017 season will get started under the Green Monster. Pittsburgh will begin a three-game set against the Red Sox in Boston, starting on April 3. The Pirates will have their home opener against the Braves on April 7.