By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Final: Pirates 15, Phillies 2 ❖ Attendance: 15, 247
Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Phillies kept tonight's game within striking distance heading into the seventh, but a three-run homer off the bat of Jordy Mercer gave the Pirates a four-run lead and Pittsburgh scored eight runs in the ninth en route to a 15-2 blowout victory in the series finale at Citizens Bank Park. Andrew McCutchen hit two solo homers for Pittsburgh, who had lost 13 of their last 16 games entering play.
Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff looked solid the majority of the evening, but allowed three solo homers, putting his team in a 3-0 hole. He was one out away from getting out of the seventh, but a Maikel Franco error kept the inning alive and the next hitter, Jordy Mercer, hit a three-run blast. Eickhoff was charged with six runs, but only three of them were earned. After Eickhoff departed, the Phillies bullpen wasn't much better. Severino Gonzalez and Colton Murray combined to allow eight runs on seven hits in the ninth. Offensively, Odubel Herrera had two hits, including a double, for the Phillies.
On Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies will welcome in the Marlins for a three game series. In the opener, Adam Morgan gets the nod against Tom Koehler.
WP: Chad Kuhl (4-3, 3.97 ERA) ❖ LP: Frank Hermann (10-14, 3.74 ERA)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PIT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 13 | 0 |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
John Jaso led the game off with a solo home run off of Eickhoff in the first. Andrew McCutchen homered in the fourth, his second in as many games, extending Pittsburgh's lead to 2-0. Sean Rodriguez laced a line drive solo homer of his own in the fifth, making it a 3-0 game.
Tommy Joseph broke Chad Kuhl's perfect game up in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off double to center. He scored on a Freddy Galvis RBI groundout with one out, cutting the lead to 3-1. After Odubel Herrera reached on an infield single, Aaron Altherr lined an RBI-double down the right field line, bringing the Phillies to within one, 3-2.
With one on and two down in the top of the seventh, Francisco Cervelli reached on a Maikel Franco error. Jordy Mercer followed with a three-run homer to left, putting Pittsburgh in the driver's seat, 6-2. Andrew McCutchen hit another solo homer in the eighth, his second of the game and third in the last two games, to make it 7-2. The Pirates tacked on eight runs in the ninth off of Severino Gonzalez and Colton Murray, embarrassing the Phillies by a final score of 15-2.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad Kuhl | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3.97 |
| Jerad Eickhoff | 6.2 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 3.74 |
Pirates
- Andrew McCutchen: 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, .250 AVG
- Jordy Mercer: 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, .259 AVG
- John Jaso: 1-4, HR, R, RBI, .261 AVG
Phillies
- Odubel Herrera: 2-3, 2B, R, .280 AVG
- Aaron Altherr: 1-3, 2B, RBI, K, .214 AVG
- Tommy Joseph: 1-3, 2B, R, .247 AVG
Pirates
- Juan Nicasio (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 K, 4.65 ERA
- Antonio Bastardo (8th): 1.0 IP, 4.04 ERA
- Jared Hughes (9th): 1.0 IP, 2 K, 3.00 ERA
Pirates
- David Hernandez (7th): 0.1 IP, 1 K, 4.02 ERA
- Frank Herrmann (8th): 1.o IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 9.31 ERA
- Severino Gonzalez (9th): 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 5.87 ERA
- Colton Murray (9th): 0.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 K, 5.76 ERA
What's Next
- Friday, September 16th, 2016: vs. Miami Marlins at 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- LHP Adam Morgan (2-10, 5.73 ERA) vs. RHP Tom Koehler (9-11, 3.97 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP
