Thursday, October 1, 2026
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An early lead was squandered as the Phillies dropped game one of their four-game series against the Pirates Monday night 11-7. Aaron Nola allowed eight runs in 4.1 innings, losing a 5-0 lead in the process.
Brandon Marsh hit two home runs while Trea Turner and Bryce Harper hit one apiece in a seven-run outing that would not suffice. The Phillies now drop to a 47-38 record on the year, while the Pirates break .500 at 43-42.
Trea Turner has been finding his groove as of late. On the Phillies’ recent road trip, the shortstop, whose season batting average sat at .232, hit .281 with two doubles and five runs scored. Leading off for the Phillies, he hit his first home run in over a month, a monster to the second deck in left field.
While Turner has had some recorded struggles early in the season, Brandon Marsh has not. The National League All-Star finalist made his mark in the first as well, slamming a two-out home run into left center field, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead after the first inning. As Marsh returned to left field, fans in left field greeted him with a “Marsh to the Polls” sign.
Justin Crawford led off the third inning with a single into center field. With the lineup turning over, Turner recorded his second base hit of the day, a single off the glove of the third baseman, moving Crawford to third as the ball ricocheted into the outfield. Schwarber took care of Crawford, hitting him in on a sacrifice fly into straightaway center field.
With Turner still itching to score, Bryce Harper became the third Phillies batter of the day to hit a home run off Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, ripping a two-run shot into right field to increase the Phillies’ lead to 5-0. The home run was Harper’s 20th of the season and his third in the past week.
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Aaron Nola managed the Pirates’ offense well through the first three frames, keeping the Pirates to a pair of baserunners and minimal time to execute. The second time around, things began to unravel for the troubled starter.
Bryan Reynolds led off the top of the fourth with a double off the wall in left field. The double was put under review to determine whether it was a home run and bounced back into play, but it was determined that it was a double.
It appeared that Nola might have dodged the usual home run bullet that has plagued him for years. Two batters later, on a knuckle curve hanging over the plate, Esmerlyn Valdez took care of the custom. His knock scored Reynolds, decreasing the Phillies’s lead to 5-2.
His struggles continued in the fifth as Jared Triolo hit a solo shot into the berm in center field to lead off the inning.
“From there it just seemed to go south,” said Don Mattingly post-game. "[Nola] got behind in some counts, gave up some hits, and just really couldn’t put anybody away after that.”
Not as deep, Jake Mangum followed with a line drive double on the same line in center field, advancing to third on a bunt single from Konnor Griffin.
After a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, Nola recorded his first out of the inning on a line-drive sacrifice fly from Brandon Lowe. The line drive was barely within the reach of a running Crawford in center, scoring Mangum from third.
On a 1-1 pitch to Reynolds, Griffin attempted to steal his 15th base of the season, sliding in just ahead of an errant throw from J.T. Realmuto. The throw hurdled into center field, allowing Griffin to advance to third uncontested.
Nola continued to run out of gas on the inning, pitching around Reynolds for a walk and then allowing an RBI single from Ryan O’Hearn to tie the game up at 5-5. Nola then walked Valdez, loading the bases with one out on the inning.
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At that time, Mattingly thought he had seen enough, sending Nola to the showers and bringing in Seth Johnson to stem the bleeding.
Johnson walked the first batter, Endy Rodríguez, allowing Reynolds to score. Tyler Callihan hit into what could have been an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play; however, Turner’s throw to first sailed wide, allowing Callihan to reach safely and two runs to score. Johnson struck out Triolo to end the inning, but not before the Pirates took an 8-5 lead over the Phillies.
All eight runs were on Nola’s ledger, with all but one of them being earned. Nola’s ERA ballooned to 6.04 after the start, which lasted 4.1 innings.
With all of the energy wiped out at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies attempted to get something started in the bottom of the seventh. Realmuto got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, getting bunted over to second by pinch hitter Derek Hill. Justin Crawford then hit an infield single, moving Realmuto to third.
Crawford then stole second to put two runners in scoring position. After a strikeout from Turner, Schwarber woke up the Bank with a moonshot into the upper deck in right field, hit just a bit foul. With a renewed sense of energy in the ballpark, Schwarber hit a slow dribbler off the top of his bat to ground out, ending the inning with two runners in scoring position.
Come the eighth inning, Marsh decided to take matters into his own hands, hitting his second home run on the day into right center field.
Another potential All-Star, Bryson Stott, tried to keep the pressure going, roping a single into center field with two outs. A wild pitch moved Stott to second base, putting him in scoring position for Realmuto, who batted him in on a single into right field to bring the Phillies within one run of the Pirates.
Chase Shugart entered to keep the Phillies close in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Shugart allowed back-to-back baserunners, letting up a single to O’Hearn and a walk to Valdez. Rodriguez then homered into right center field, giving the Pirates an 11-7 command going into the bottom of the ninth.
A walk to Bryce Harper would be the closest the Phillies could get to a final rally as the offense was unable to recover from the ninth-inning gut punch from the Pirates. Aaron Nola took the loss, his fifth on the season.
With Tuesday comes a new round in the rotation for the Phillies, as Cristopher Sánchez will take the ball against Pirates starter Bubba Chandler. The two will face off at 6:40 p.m.
