In a back-and-forth game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates, it was ultimately poor timely hitting and a late Rhys Hoskins error that ended this one in Pittsburgh’s favor, 5-4. The Phillies (68-63) are now two games out of the second National League Wild Card spot, and have gone 5-11 against teams with a record below .500 in the month of August.
The night did not start well for Phillies starter Drew Smyly, who has struggled greatly in the month of August. After Kevin Newman led off the top of the first with a triple, Bryan Reynolds followed with a home run to give the Pirates an early 2-0 lead.
Pirates starter Steven Brault retired the Phillies in order in the bottom of the inning, but the Phillies managed to score a run in each of the next three innings and ultimately take the lead. In the second, an Adam Haseley single scored Corey Dickerson from second, who had reached on a double. In the third, Bryce Harper, Jean Segura and Dickerson each had two-out hits, with Dickerson’s scoring Harper from second and tying the game at 2-2. In the fourth, Sean Rodriguez led off with a double and Haseley knocked him in with his second RBI hit of the day to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.
Meanwhile, after that rocky first inning, Smyly really settled down. He allowed only two baserunners from the second inning to the fourth and escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth with no damage.
In the bottom of the sixth, however, he quickly gave back the lead. After Jose Osuna led off the inning with a single, Colin Moran ripped a home run to right field to put the Pirates up, 4-3. After getting two quick outs, Smyly was relieved by Blake Parker, who got the final out in the inning.
The Pirates lead did not last long, as pinch-hitter Logan Morrison crushed a solo shot to left-center field off of Kyle Crick in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game up at 4-4.
The Phillies bullpen kept the Pirates offense in check over the next couple innings. Ranger Suarez pitched a scoreless seventh and got one out in the eighth before giving way to Jared Hughes, who allowed a hit before getting a double play to keep the game tied through eight.
The Phillies threatened to take the lead after lead-off doubles in the seventh and eighth, but were unable to score against Pirates relievers Keone Kela, Francisco Liriano and Felipe Vasquez. This kept the game tied into the ninth inning, when Hector Neris came in to pitch for the Phillies.
After allowing two one-out walks, Neris got a double-play ball that should have kept the game tied into the bottom of the ninth. But Rhys Hoskins was unable to handle the throw from Jean Segura, and Adam Frazier scored to give the Pirates the lead. This lead held, as Pirates closer Felipe Vasquez flashed his electric stuff to set the Phillies down in order to end the game.
This was an absolutely brutal loss for the Phillies, who have just been unable to go on a run here in August. Their failure to take winnable games from inferior teams has been incredibly frustrating, and it may ultimately cost them a playoff spot. Tomorrow, Vince Velasquez will take the hill as the Phillies will look to break a streak of five straight series losses against teams with below .500 records.
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