Phillies May Have To Bring Back “Duck And Cover” Drills

GAME RECAP: Pirates Pillage Phillies 7-4

With two hit batsmen, three walks and five stolen bases allowed in three-plus innings, it's safe to say Pirates rookie Tyler Glasnow struggled in his home debut. The Bucs' offense compensated, erupting for a five-run fifth inning and holding on to beat the Phillies, 7-4, on Saturday. Down, 3-2, in the fifth inning, a single by Jordy Mercer and back-to-back Aaron Nola walks to pinch-hitter Matt Joyce and John Jaso loaded the bases. Gregory Polanco delivered a go-ahead two-run single, David Freese followed with a two-run single of his own, and a sacrifice fly by catcher Francisco Cervelli made it 7-3. "We saw really good at-bats, guys working to get on base," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of the fifth inning. "Just good quality at-bats." The Pirates improved to 7-1 against the Phillies at PNC Park since 2014. Glasnow was pulled in the fourth inning due to what the Pirates called right shoulder discomfort, but the bullpen limited the Phillies to two runs in the final six innings. Pittsburgh placed the rookie on the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. Nola surrendered six earned runs on six hits in four-plus innings before being pulled in favor of the recently recalled Severino Gonzalez. Nola has only pitched six innings deep into a game once in his last seven starts. "He didn't have command of his pitches," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He threw too many balls, he got behind. He's usually a strike one guy to get ahead of hitters. Started off pretty good, but just lost his command."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• In the third inning, Glasnow hit catcher Cameron Rupp in the head with a 91-mph fastball, and Rupp immediately crumpled to the ground as his helmet fell off. Rupp was able to walk off the field and was replaced by Carlos Ruiz. Rupp showed no ill effects or damage from the hit that grazed his cheek, according to Mackanin, though he will be re-evaluated Sunday. Glasnow later hit Nola in the left hand with a fastball and was pulled soon after in the fourth. Nola said his knuckles had taken most of the hit, but there was no damage done. 
• Through Glasnow's three-plus innings, Herrera, Cesar Hernandez and Freddy Galvis combined to steal five bases. Mackanin attributed it to the 6-foot-8 Glasnow being slow to the plate, and Glasnow admitted after the game it's something he needs to work on.
• "I thought we were going to get to him. He was effectively wild, I think is what it was. And we just couldn't hit the pitches we were supposed to hit. We were ahead in counts and just couldn't capitalize." -- Mackanin, on Glasnow and the Phillies stranding 14 men on base.
• In the second inning, Galvis appeared to ground out to Jaso, who picked up the ball that rolled by Glasnow before tossing it to the pitcher at first. The call was overturned after a review, as replay showed Glasnow's foot never touched the bag. Galvis reached on a missed catch error by Glasnow, assist to Jaso.
• The Pirates challenged an out call against Cervelli at first base in the eighth inning. The call on the field was overturned, as Cervelli had made it to first before Blanco's throw reached first baseman Tommy Joseph.
• In the ninth, the Phillies challenged whether a ball Hernandez hit down the left-field line was fair or foul, but the foul ball call stood after review.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Vince Velasquez (8-2, 3.15 ERA) will start for the Phillies as they try to clinch their series with the Pirates on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET.

PHILS PHACTS:

A Warning Would Have Been Nice! – Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp left in the third inning of Saturday's7-4 loss to the Pirates after being hit in the head by a pitch, but manager Pete Mackanin said it appears Rupp hasn't sustained any significant injury. Pirates rookie Tyler Glasnow hit Rupp with a 91-mph fastball toward the back of his batting helmet. Rupp's helmet came off as he crumpled to the ground, but he was able to walk off the field. "We anticipate him to be fine," Mackanin said. "It deflected off the flap and hit his cheek, and I just took him out. He should be fine, but he's going to be checked out tomorrow." Pinch-runner Carlos Ruiz replaced Rupp and remained in the game at catcher. Glasnow later hit pitcher Aaron Nola in the left hand with a fastball in the fourth inning and was pulled soon after. Nola said after the game that the blow was to his knuckles, but his hand is fine and uninjured. Mackanin wasn't pleased with the lack of command from Glasnow when pitching inside. "This team has a tendency to pitch inside, it's part of their program," Mackanin said. "And I don't have an issue with that. If they want to pitch inside, we can pitch inside, too. However, today, I have an issue with if you're going to pitch inside and you're going to hit a guy in the head, you shouldn't be here."

Running On A Slow Delivery – The Phillies had the bases loaded in the third inning Saturday. They were stealing bases left and right off rookie pitcher Tyler Glasnow. It was a tie game. All that was left on the to-do list was to cross home plate a few times more. But a popout by Cody Asche and a groundout by Freddy Galvis would eventually come back to haunt them in a 7-4 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, as would many other missed opportunities. Philadelphia pulled ahead by run in the top of the fifth, but couldn't muster up enough offense to overcome a five-run response by the Pirates, despite five stolen bases off Glasnow and Bucs catcher Francisco Cervelli through three-plus innings. "The guy was slow to the plate, and we took advantage of it," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We stole five bases, still couldn't get any. The third inning haunted us." Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez each stole two bases off Glasnow, with Galvis stealing one in the second inning. Though the Phillies were able to move around the bases, they also stranded 14. For a team that ranks 15th in the Majors in stolen bases with 48, five stolen bases in one game is a definite outlier. The rhythm became the silver lining of a tough loss. "It's nothing in particular, really, but we just take a look at the pitcher," Herrera said through translator Diego Ettedgui. "So it depends on the situation, depends on the pitcher. But when we see we can take advantage of it, we really try to do that."

Taking Precautions – After taking a pitch off his left wrist in Friday's 4-0 win against the Pirates, Maikel Franco was not in the Phillies' lineup on Saturday and is day to day with a sore wrist. "I guess he's got some tenderness," manager Pete Mackanin said. "It's not going to hurt him to not play for a few days." X-rays on Franco's wrist came back negative, according to Mackanin, but the tenderness is more concerning since Franco fractured it in the same place last year. However, the third baseman has been icing and wrapping the wrist, and he said it doesn't feel too severe. "Because I can hit, grab a bat, like I did yesterday. ... I hit yesterday with a bat, also," Franco said. "That's the thing I think about. It's not super serious, because I can do some stuff." Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole hit Franco with a 96-mph fastball in the first inning, and Franco continued to play until the bottom of the fourth. In his next at-bat, Franco singled on a ground ball to center field, but his wrist continued to nag him, and he was soon replaced by Andres Blanco. Blanco played third base and batted third on Saturday. He went 2-for-2 with an RBI in Friday's win. Trainers will re-evaluate the wrist Sunday morning, Franco said.

Today In Phils History – It was quite the interesting contest on this day in 1897 between Philadelphia and Cleveland as with no umpire available for the game each team provided a substitute player to officiate leading to frequent arguments with the Cleveland player behind the plate and ultimately resulting in the Phillies forfeiting the game in the bottom of the 8^th. With a 6^th inning homerun at Shea Stadium in 1965, Dick Stuart became the only active player to have hit a homerun in ever MLB park. 20 year later, Von Hayes connected off Nolan Ryan for an inside the park homerun in the 8^th inning resulting in a Phillies 3-1 win over Houston. 10 years later, the Phillies traded Dave Hollins to Boston for “Hard Hittin” Mark Whitten. In 1998, the Phillies scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9^th in the second game of a double header at Veterans Stadium and keep pace for the next 3 innings scoring a run in each frame before finally winning the game in the 12^th with 2 more runs scored. 3 years later, despite not being known for his power, Tomas Perez hit a home run from both sides of the plate against the Expos. The following season, 2002, Brett Myers makes his MLB debut as the 1^st Phillies player born in the 1980’s winning the game over Chicago in the process. The following year, 2003, Bobby Abreu tied a franchise record by recording 5 RBI in a single inning. Finally, it was on this day 5 years ago when former Phillies GM Pat Gillick was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 45-54 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 46-57-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.