But Nola would quickly give those runs right back, as he allowed three runs of his own in the bottom of the first to tie the game at 3-3. McCutchen and Reynolds started with singles before Cruz hit a 120 MPH double off of the center field wall to score McCutchen. Reynolds came home on an RBI groundout by Gonzales and Cruz scored on the first of three sacrifice flies on the night from Rowdy Tellez.
Roller coaster
The Phillies would retake the lead on a solo home run by Wilson in the third before the Pirates once again tied the game in the bottom of the third. Cruz hit another double and eventually came around to score on another Tellez sac fly. Turner then homered, his 10th home run since returning from the IL, to give the Phillies a 6-4 lead in the fourth.
Kyle Schwarber added another run in fifth with a bases loaded sac fly to push the lead to 7-4. But from that point on, the Phillies would strand seven runners and fail to add on any more runs. They had first and second with no outs to begin the ninth in a one run game but failed to advance them any further.
Couldn’t stop the bleeding
Nola was able to stabilize a little bit and finish five innings while allowing four runs on six hits. Gregory Soto was first on in relief in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning despite allowing two straight singles with two outs.
Orion Kerkering was the first reliever to get in trouble when he allowed a leadoff single to McCutchen to begin the seventh followed by a double to Reynolds. Cruz then singled to cut the deficit to 7-5 with still no outs in the inning and runners now at the corners. Tellez hit a sacrifice fly to left that scored Reynolds and made it a one run game, but Cruz was ruled out on review from getting tagged by the hair trying to advance to second.
It was the first time in 46 career MLB appearances that Kerkering has allowed multiple runs. Jeff Hoffman came on in the eighth and struck out the side to preserve the 7-6 lead.
Next Up
The Phillies will look to rebound behind Cristopher Sánchez (7-4, 2.96) against Pittsburgh’s Luis L. Ortiz (4-2, 2.84). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM.
The Phillies lost for just the third time this season after leading following eight innings as José Alvarado was not able to hold a one run lead in the ninth. Pittsburgh secured an 8-7 comeback win in a game that Philadelphia led 7-4 entering the seventh inning. Despite scoring 7 runs, the Phillies offense still managed to strand 11 baserunners and Aaron Nola struggled to hold early leads.
First step is admitting there’s a problem
Alvarado has had a disappointing season and Friday night’s showing was one of his worst outings of the season. Tasked with holding a one run lead for the win, Alvarado allowed a single to Connor Joe and walked Andrew McCutchen on five pitches to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs. A double steal after Michael Taylor pinch ran for Joe then put both runners in scoring position.
Alvarado was able to rebound to strike out Bryan Reynolds for the first out, but it would be the only out he could record. Oneil Cruz hit a high chopper to Edmundo Sosa at second and reached base safely, scoring the tying run in the process. Nick Gonzales then hit the first pitch he saw from Alvarado through the infield for a walk-off single. Alvarado now owns a 4.35 ERA on the season and has three blown saves.
Fun while it lasted
Nick Castellanos gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead in the first with a bases loaded double that scored Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. Weston Wilson followed two batters later with an RBI single that scored Alec Bohm and made it 3-0 in the top of the first.
Jose Alvarado continues to struggle in high leverage situations as the trade deadline approaches. Nic Antaya/GettyImages
Share this article
Link copied!
Related Articles
Get Geared Up
