Moyer Blows Two leads as Pirates Pound Phllies in Game Two
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The Phillies jumped on Pirates lefthander Paul Maholm for 4 runs in the 1st inning and 2 more in the 2nd, but veteran lefty Jamie Moyer couldn’t hold 4-0 and 6-4 leads and was pounded for 8 runs and chased with none out in the 5th as Pittsburgh came back to club the Phillies by an 11-6 score in game two of their three game series. Maholm emerged as the winning pitcher (9-14) despite giving up 6 runs on 10 hits in 7 innings.
With the loss, the 2nd place Phillies dropped to 4 games behind the NL East leading Mets who won and held a 1 1/2 game lead on the 3rd place Braves who lost again. The Phils remained tied for the NL Wild Card lead with the San Diego Padres who were edged by the Houston Astros by a 3-2 score.
AP Sports Writer Alan Robinson writes about the Pirates’ resurgent offense and recaps the games scoring for Yahoo sports;
The Pirates own the NL’s worst record, but in a span of three days they’ve rallied from deficits of five runs, in a 10-7 victory Thursday over the Mets, and four runs against the Phillies to beat the NL East’s two top teams. Part of the reason they were able to rally is a reawakened offense that leads the NL in runs scored (120) and home runs (27) in August.
The Pirates are only 9-8 for the month, but they’re scoring plenty of runs — eight or more in each of their last four games and nine times overall. The only other stretch of sustained offense for one of baseball’s lowest-scoring teams came when they won nine of 13 going into the All-Star break.
The Phillies, who began the night tied for the NL wild-card lead with San Diego after winning four of five, easily lead the NL in runs scored with 666. But starter Jamie Moyer (11-9) couldn’t hold leads of 4-0 in the first and 6-4 in the second against a team the Phillies were 4-0 against this season.
the Phillies looked like they would make it a rout. Jayson Werth, the fill-in right fielder with Shane Victorino injured, hit a three-run homer in the first following [Ryan] Howard’s RBI single. Within a span of six batters, the Phillies had more hits (4) against Maholm than he allowed in beating the Giants 3-1 Monday in a three-hit complete game.
“Usually, you get a four-run lead like that for him (Moyer) early in the game, he keeps you in the game,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “Tonight, they were hitting him pretty good.”
The Pirates came back with four in their half of the first on run-scoring doubles by Jason Bay and [Adam] LaRoche, [Xavier] Nady’s RBI single and a [Ronny] Paulino groundout.
Pat Burrell came right back to hit a two-run homer in the second, his 19th and second in as many nights, that made it 6-4. But [Freddy] Sanchez, last year’s NL batting champion, hit his eighth homer of the season in the fourth to tie it. Sanchez is 27-for-68 (.397) this month.
“Right there, I had to get as many outs as I could just to stay in the game,” Maholm said. “I started making pitches and that’s when things started clicking.”
With the score tied at 6, Nady singled and Adam LaRoche doubled to start the Pirates’ fifth. Nunez then bobbled Ronny Paulino’s grounder, forcing him to rush a much-too-high throw that sailed far past first baseman Ryan Howard — scoring both runners and sending Paulino to second. Paulino later scored on Jack Wilson’s squeeze bunt.
“I rushed a little bit. It was a routine play and it should have been made,” Nunez said. “I didn’t make a play, and it cost us a game.”
Moyer, who was 4-0 in his five most recent starts, was lifted after being roughed up for nine hits and eight runs, seven earned, in four-plus innings. Maholm gave up 10 hits, but only three over his final five innings.
“I gave it right back to them,” Moyer said. “I took the momentum we created and passed it right back to them, and I deserve what I get. I’ve got to be better than that.”
Maholm and relievers Shawn Chacon and Matt Capps shut out Philadelphia over the final seven innings, with Capps finishing up in the ninth.
Losing pitcher Moyer was chased in the 5th, after a single and a double, with Bucs’ on 2nd and 3rd. But the Phillies’ on-again, off-again bullpen which a couple of games ago sported a scoreless string, was victimized again after nearly blowing a 6 run lead on Friday night. Reliever Jose Mesa was victimized on Nunez’s throwing error although the two runs that scored were charged to Moyer. A 3rd run scored, an unearned run charged to Mesa, on shortstop Wilson’s squeeze bunt.
Clay Condrey replaced Mesa in the 6th and pitched 2 scoreless innings despite 2 7th inning walks and a single which loaded the bases with two out. But Condrey got Nate McLouth, pinch-hitting for Maholm, to line out to 1st base to end the inning.
Then Mike Zagurski replaced Condrey in the 8th and was charged with 2 runs in 2/3 of an inning before straining his right hamstring on Paulino’s infield single. Antonio Alfonseca replaced Zagurski with the sacks loaded and proceeded to walk in the Pirates’ final run before getting the final out. Zagurski will go onto the 15-day disabled list Sunday.
For the boxscores and recaps on this and all of Saturday’s games, click here.
In Sunday’s finale, recently acquired Kyle Lohse faces Ian Snell.
Following the Pittsburgh series, the Phillies return home to Citzens Bank Stadium for 10 all-important games. It’s clutch-time as the Phils host the L.A. Dodgers for 3 games beginning Tuesday, followed by 3 games with the San Diego Padres next weekend, followed by a climatic 4 game confrontation with the NL East leading New York Mets.
For the scores, boxscores on all of Saturday’s games, click here.
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