Thursday, September 23
The 57-95 Pittsburgh Pirates tried to surprise Philadelphia Phillies fans and MLB fans around the world Thursday night as they had a stellar start to the game against the 79-74 Phillies with Aaron Nola pitching. Aaron Nola got the win (pitched six innings, six earned runs, eight strikeouts, and one walk. It all started in the top of the second where the Pirates blew up the scoreboard with runs and led 5-0 where Aaron Nola gave up a two run home run from Ke’Bryan Hayes which scored Kevin Newman and Connor Overton. The Pirates then continued to rally through the Phillies defense as Moran homered to right to make the score 6-0 Pirates. For the Phillies, it all began in the bottom of the third where Didi Gregorius went yard to make the score 6-1. After that, Aaron Nola scored by a past ball to make the score 6-2. Obdubel Herrera moved to third. Next, Jean Segura hit a sacrifice fly to center and Herrera scored to make the score 6-3. Then, Andrew McCutchen doubled deep left and Bryce Harper scored to add another run on the scoreboard, 6-4. Lastly, Brad Miller hit a shallow single to center field which scored McCutchen to make it a one run deficit, 6-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Ronald Torreyes had a go ahead homerun to left which was a two run home run that scored J.T. Realmuto and Matt Vierling cross home plate that put the Phillies in the drivers seat with a 8-6 lead. The scoring wasn’t over for the Phillies when it reached the 8th inning when J.T. Realmuto singled to center which brought Herrera and Segura home to make the score 12-6 Phillies. Phillies relievers Archie Bradley, Jose Alvarado, and Bailey Falter pitched some point in the game after Aaron Nola was done and they were a big help to help the Phillies pull out a much needed win on a rainy night at Citizens Bank Park with a final score of 12-6.
Friday, September 24
The Philadelphia Phillies were continuing their playoff push on a beautiful Friday night in South Philadelphia versus the 57-96 Pittsburgh Pirates where starting pitcher for the Phillies, Kyle Gibson, hit his first home run in his major league career to put the first run on the board for the Phillies in the bottom half of the third inning. Kyle Gibson struggled in the top half of the fourth inning giving up four runs that made the score 6-1 Pirates. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Brad Miller took one deep that was a solo home run to make the score 4-2 Phillies. Next, with another runner on base, Bryce Harper came up to bat and doubled to right and Matt Vierling scored to put the Phillies down by only one run, 4-3. The offensive madness for the Phillies kept going in the next bottom half inning in the sixth where the Phillies tied the game up at four where Andrew McCutchen scored on a wild pitch. After that, Ronald Torreyes came up to bat and singled to center and Didi Gregorius scored to put the Phillies in the drivers seat with a 5-4 lead. In the top of the seventh, the Pirates took advantage as Difo homered to right which was a two run home run and the Pirates led 6-5. Lastly, Didi Gregorius hit a three run home run which helped the Phillies put themselves back in the drivers seat and sealed the victory.
Saturday, September 25
The bats continued to be a loud sound as the Philadelphia Phillies won their fifth straight game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on a gorgeous Saturday evening down in South Philadelphia. The scoring for the Phillies started in the bottom of the third inning when Matt Vierling hit his first career major league home run to get the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Also, in that same half inning, Bryce Harper had a tremendous at bat where he went yard for his thirty-fourth home run of the season and helped the Phillies take a 2-0 lead. Lastly, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Brad Miller added another run to left center that put the Phillies up by a field goal, 3-0. Not only was the bats tremendous during this game but the bullpen game was even awesome has Ranger Suarez got the start for Philadelphia and he pitched a complete shut out in this one with seven strikeouts and giving up only four hits with no walks. The Phillies improved to a season-best seven games over .500 with a 3-0 victory.
Sunday, September 26
It wasn’t what the Phillies fans over the Philadelphia region wanted as they got blown by against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0 to erase their five game winning
streak. In the top of the first inning, Phillies starter Hans Crouse wasn’t sharp at
all as gave up his first ever major league homer in his major league debut to Cole Tucker. Offensively it wasn’t a pretty sight from the second inning until the end of the game as the Pirates’ defense ran over the Phillies and kept their lead throughout the whole game. The scoring continued for the Pirates in the top half
inning of the seventh as De’Bryan Hayes doubled to right, scoring Cole Tucker, and Bryan Reynolds to make the score 3-0. Lastly, in the top of the ninth inning, De’Bryan Hayes scored on a balk to make the score 6-0. It wasn’t pretty.
NEXT UP:
The 81-75 Phillies will now travel to Atlanta to play a crucial three game series vs. the 82-72 Braves starting on Tuesday with 14-9 Zach Wheeler on the mound vs. 13-6 Charlie Morton. The game on Tuesday will be on Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Philadelphia with first pitch slated for 7:20pm EST.