Pittsburgh Pirates lose series finale against Philadelphia Phillies

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates failed to sweep their rival Philadelphia Phillies, losing the series finale 6-0 at PNC Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Pirates’ loss (50-49) ended a six-game winning streak dating back to the All-Star break on July 11. They have nevertheless won eight of their last 10 games and nine of their last 13 meetings, split a home series with the New York Mets, won two of three games against their NL Central rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, swept the Chicago White Sox, the worst in MLB (the last two series were away series) and won two against the Phillies (63-36).

The Pirates’ left-handed starting pitcher, Marco Gonzales, had a lot of trouble with the Phillies’ excellent lineup at the beginning of the second inning.

He allowed a single by third baseman Alec Bohm, and after right fielder Nick Castellanos fouled, second baseman Edmundo Sosa doubled and Bohm advanced to third base.

Gonzales got left fielder Weston Wilson to fly out, but Bohm scored and Sosa went to third base. He then allowed a single from catcher Garrett Stubbs that gave Sosa a 2-0 lead.

The Pirates trailed by two outs early on but managed to load the bases in the second half of the third inning when Philies right-handed starting pitcher Tyler Phillips hit catcher Joey Bart, designated hitter Andrew McCutchen hit a single to center field and Phillips walked left fielder Bryan Reynolds to get on base.

Phillips got the Phillies out of the inning unscathed by throwing out Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz.

Gonzales threw 84 pitches, but after allowing singles to Phillies center fielder Cristian Pache and first baseman Bryce Harper, Pirates manager Derek Shelton decided to make a change in the fifth inning.

He brought in right-handed pitcher Dennis Santana, who came in and struck out Bohm to get out of the inning unscathed.

Right-handed pitcher Kyle Nicolas came in for the Pirates in the seventh inning and walked Stubbs to start. He managed to strike out Pache and tried to force a ground out from designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, but Cruz failed to catch the throw from second baseman Nick Gonzales, leaving Stubbs at second base.

The second base umpire initially called Stubbs out, but the Phillies successfully challenged this because Cruz simply dropped the ball and it was not due to interference from Stubbs.

The Phillies extended their lead when shortstop Trea Turner hit a single to right field, scoring Stubbs and moving Schwarber to third base. Harper grounded out but brought Schwarber home to make it 4-0.

Bohm extended the Phillies’ lead when he hit a single to left field, scoring Turner from second base.

Phillips had a fantastic performance for Philadelphia, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing just four hits, one walk and no runs in the win.

The Phillies managed to load all bases early in the eighth inning, but Turner threw a groundout to Pirates third baseman Ke’Byran Hayes to end the inning.

Castellanos capped the Phillies’ scoring tally that day with a solo hit, extending their lead to 6-0.

The Phillies’ bullpen also played a major role in this victory: right-hander Yunior Marte, left-hander Jose Alvarado and right-hander Jose Ruiz threw scoreless pitches in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and were able to keep the Pirates at bay in the end.

The Pirates will look to rebound when they host NL Central Division rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, in their next series. The first game is Monday night, with first pitch at 6:40 p.m.

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