McCutchen went 4-5, falling just a home run short of the cycle in the Pirates' 8-2 win
Gerrit Cole (7-4) held the Phillies to one hit over five innings, and Andrew McCutchen finished a home run short of the cycle as the Pittsburgh Pirates took the first game of their series against the Phillies 8-2 on July 4th.
The Phillies were in trouble from the get-go, as starter Roberto Hernandez (3-8) labored through a 46 pitch first inning. He retired rookie Gregory Polanco on a flyout to left to start the inning. Starling Marte singled to left with one out, and stole second without much troubleafter a wide pickoff throw from catcher Koyie Hill. McCutchen hit a liner off the glove of Cody Asche that fell in shallow left, but Rollins picked it up and gunned down Marte as he went to cross the plate. Neal Walker took a base on balls after McCutchen stole second on the 3-0 pitch.
An RBI single by Russel Martin scored the reigning NL MVP, and a single by Josh Harrison up the middle plated Walker to make it 2-0. Harrison stole second ahead of a walk to Gaby Sanchez before Jordy Mercer lined a single into left-center, scoring Martin and Harrison to push Pittsburgh's lead to 4-0. Hernandez's control was all over the place, and didn't throw his first first-pitch strike until the ninth batter, Cole, who hit a dribbler in front of the plate for the third out. 45 pitches for Hernandez in the first, with 22 being strikes.
In the second, Ryan Howard struck out swinging to leadoff the inning. Marlon Byrd took a check swing that looked close enough to argue, especially since the pitch went past Martin to the backstop, but Byrd instead stayed to argue with the home plate umpire instead of running it out, and was thrown out easily by Martin for the second out. Things only got better in the bottom of the frame when McCutchen hit a long fly ball to left-center. Ben Revere called Tony Gwynn Jr. off as he went for it, but that didnt stop the outfielders from running into each other as McCutchen went to third on the hit.
Revere singled through the middle off Cole for the first Philadelphia hit with two outs in the third, and stole second easily for his 25th swipe of the season, but was stranded there aafter a Rollins strikeout. Hernandez worked around a leadoff single by Martin to record a scoreless third.
The Phillies went down in order to start the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Polanco singled with one out and, with two outs, McCutchen doubled into the left field corner, scoring Polanco and raising the Pirates lead to 5-0. Walker reached on an infield single to shortstop, but Hernandez was able to stop the bleeding when Martin flew out to right.
Cole, after recording a hitless fifth, left the game with right lat soreness. He finished having allowed just one hit, one walk, and a hit batter across five scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Hernandez, meanwhile, got his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth.
Stolmy Pimentel relieved Cole in the sixth. The young righty struggled mightily, walking Revere to lead off the inning before uncorking a wild pitch that allowed Ben to move to second. Utley singled to right to bring the centerfielder home, and howard walked to load the bases. Marlon Byrd came up in a great situation to close the gap, but grounded into a double play on the first pitch that scored just one run. Asche struck out to end it, with the Phillies now trailing 5-2.
Incredibly, Hernandez came back to pitch the sixth, but was removed with two outs after issuing a walk to Marte. Justin DeFratus coaxed a ground ball off the bat of McCutchen, which Rollins flipped to second for the third out. Hernandez finished having allowed 5 runs in 5.2 innings, 10 hits and 4 walks over his 117 pitches.
Pittsburgh reliever Justin Wilson sat the Phillies down in order in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Martin worked a walk with one out. Sanchez hit a ground ball to third, and Cesar Hernandez's throw from third pulled Howard off the bag at first, allowing Sanchez to reach safely. Mercer capitalized on the opportunity by yanking a double down the left field line to plate Martin and Sanchez, staking Pittsburgh to a 7-2 lead. Former Phillie Vance Worley grounded out as a pinch hitter for the third out.
The Phillies went down without a fight in the eighth against reliever Tony Watson. BJ Rosenberg relieved DeFratus in the bottom of the inning, and walked Polanco to lead it off. McCutchen hit a deep fly that nearly went out and gave him a cycle for the night, but instead bounced off the wall in right for a one-out double, scoring Polanco to make it 8-2. Jeanmar Gomez came in and worked a quick, 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the win for Pittsburgh.
Notable Statistics:
Marlon Byrd: 0-4, 2 K
Ben Revere: 1-3, SB, BB
Chase Utley: 1-4, RBI
Impact:
The Phillies were aggressive after being down by so much early, but hardly made Cole sweat with only a handful of truly hard hit balls all afternoon, not to mention the defensive miscues. Hernandez recovered nicely from his horrible first inning, but it was too little, too late. It was a bad game on all fronts, and hopefully they have a better day tomorrow.
Up Next:
The Phillies and Pirates play the second of three games tomorrow at 4:05 pm, as David Buchanan (4-6, 4.86) takes the mound opposite Edinson Volquez (6-6, 4.07)
