Pivetta falls apart early, Phillies can't come back

Pivetta falls apart early, Phillies can’t come back

Theo DeRosa

July 14 2017

By Theo DeRosa, Sports Talk Philly staff

Final: Brewers 9, Phillies 6

MILWAUKEE—Nick Pivetta was cruising, and then he was losing.

The right-hander and the Phillies leapt out to a great start to Friday's game at Miller Park, as the Phillies scored twice in the top of the first and Pivetta struck out the first four Brewers who came to bat.

Then, though, the Brewers snuck three straight hits through the left side. They cut the Phils' lead in half. And for Pivetta and the Phillies, the game turned on a dime.

Orlando Arcia launched a three-run homer to left. Later in the inning, Ryan Braun continued his career-long tear against the Phils with a grand slam he crushed to center.

The Phillies managed to crawl back and make it a game, but couldn't escape the sting of an eight-run second for Milwaukee. The Brewers took the series opener, 9-6, on Friday night.

In addition, the Phils lost outfielder Aaron Altherr to a mild hamstring strain in the fifth inning. It remains to be seen how long he'll be out.

WP: Zach Davies (11-4, 5.08) ❖ LP: Nick Pivetta (2-5, 5.63) ❖ S: Knebel (15)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	6	9	2
MIL	0	8	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	9	8	2

Three hits — Altherr's double, Freddy Galvis' single and Maikel Franco's base hit the other way — plated the Phillies' first run, and Nick Williams' liner to medium-depth center was deep enough to bring in another.

Pivetta backed up his offense in the first by touching 97 with his fastball and striking out the side in the first, continuing the hot streak into the second by fanning Travis Shaw. But Santana lined a ball to left and stretched it to a double, Manny Piña singled and Keon Broxton singled to score Santana. Arcia followed with a three-run shot to left-center as the Brewers grabbed the lead right back.

Not to be outdone, Pivetta promptly walked pitcher Zach Davies. Jonathan Villar singled. Eric Thames worked the count full and walked. And Braun, before Tom McCarthy could complete his thought about Braun's likelihood to hit a grand slam, answered. He sent a ball high off of the back wall, well over the fence, for a grand slam that put a quick end to the Phils' realistic hopes.

Braun's granny didn't put an end to the Phils' scoring, though. If Pivetta hadn't struggled, their offensive attack against Davies could have been enough. Altherr led off the fifth with a double — and was pulled from the game with a hamstring tweak — Galvis walked and Franco drove both men home with a line drive to center.

Odúbel Herrera sent a two-run shot to right in the sixth as the Phillies cut into the lead further. They put men on the sixth, seventh and eighth but couldn't manage any runs against Carlos Torres, Jared Hughes, Josh Hader or Jacob Barnes.

In the ninth, Brewers closer Corey Knebel allowed a leadoff double to Franco, who was 4-5 on the night, but settled down to pitch a scoreless frame. Their winning proportion dropped below one-third again, as the Phils fell to 29-59 and went out with a whimper in the first game of the second half.

The Phils send their best starter, Aaron Nola, to the hill Saturday night at 7:10, but Nola draws a tough assignment in right-hander Jimmy Nelson.

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