Final Score: Phillies 8, Pirates 2
The Philadelphia Phillies offense exploded against Pirates pitching Sunday, putting up eight runs on 18 hits, sweeping Pittsburgh in the four-game weekend series.
The Phillies started the game on a good note for the Phillies, as J.T. Realmuto knocked Alec Bohm in with a two-out double in the first inning and Nick Castellanos drove Realmuto in with an RBI single, putting the Phillies up 2-0:
In the bottom of the third inning, Aaron Nola was aided by some great plays in the field. With one out, Bryson Stott made a great diving play to throw out Tyler Heineman. Nola then allowed two consecutive doubles, the latter putting Pittsburgh on the board.
In the top of the fifth inning, Kyle Schwarber hit his 33rd home run of the season to give the Phillies some breathing room, increasing the lead to 3-1:
Castellanos then added to the Phillies lead by hitting an RBI single up the middle, before Stott followed him up by knocking in Realmuto. With two outs, Matt Vierling and Odúbel Herrera each came through with RBI singles. The Phillies broke the game open to 7-1, scoring five runs in the frame:
Nola found himself in a little bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners and one out, but he worked out of the inning unscathed.
Bohm, in the top of the sixth, homered to left field for his fourth hit of the day as the Phillies extended their lead to 8-1.
In total, Bohm went 4-for-5 Sunday, finishing the month of July with a .434 batting average.
While the Pirates would get one run off of Jeurys Familia in the bottom of the ninth inning, Didi Gregorius started a pretty incredible double play to finish out the 55th win of the season for the Phillies.
The Phillies will be off Monday before beginning a two-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Aaron Nola: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 93 pitches
Nola was excellent today, and it didn’t hurt to pitch against an inferior Pittsburgh squad. The 29-year-old benefited from not having to be perfect on account of the run support the Phillies hitters gave him. On the season, Nola now has a 3.25 ERA.
JT Brubaker: 4.1 IP, 12 H, 7 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 78 pitches
The Phillies got to Brubaker good, knocking him around with a dozen hits in 4 1/3 innings. After scoring six runs over the prior two nights, the Phillies tagged Pittsburgh’s starter for seven earned runs over less than five innings.
Phillies Nugget Of The Game
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