Thursday, October 1, 2026
73 ° Clear
73 ° Clear
The rockets' red glare last night in the form of fireworks at Citizens Bank Park.
Today, as Alan Rangel threw the first pitch for the Phillies’ series finale against the Pirates, a heat haze highlighted the Philadelphia skyline. A cool breeze, meanwhile, blew over the Phillies’ bats as they only notched four hits as they dropped their series finale against the Pirates 6-1.
"It was hot, we know that, but both teams played in it,” reflected interim manager Don Mattingly after the game. “You can't really make an excuse with the weather. Obviously, it affects in some way, but, you know, both teams played in it.”
José Alvarado took the loss, allowing two runs, including the go-ahead run in the seventh.
Both the Phillies and Pirates had chances early to score, but it was the Phillies that managed to strike first. Rafael Marchán, starting at catcher in place of J.T. Realmuto, worked a four-pitch walk to put a runner on base with one out in the bottom of the third.
One out later, Kyle Schwarber joined Marchán, getting a walk of his own, moving Marchán into scoring position.
Bryce Harper then drove a double into the opposite field, scoring Marchán to give the Phillies a 1-0 advantage.
While he has been in the starting rotation for a few cycles now, this is Alan Rangel’s first start of the season on Thursday, as an opener has been used in his other outings. As the starter, Rangel went four innings, keeping the Pirates scoreless despite allowing seven baserunners on four walks and three hits.
Though he had traffic on the basepath, Rangel struck out four batters and successfully passed the ball off to Tim Mayza to pitch the top of the fifth.
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Jaeke Mangum took the first pitch Mayza threw and drove it into right field for a lead-off double. Brandon Lowe followed up with a single, putting runners on the corners with no outs for Mayza.
With power hitter Bryan Reynolds up, Mayza worked a strikeout for the first out. Esmerlyn Valdez then scored Mangum on a single into center field but would eventually be out as part of a 6-3 double play to end the inning as the Pirates tied the game 1-1.
With a day off on Friday, Mattingly believed the Phillies could make it through Thursday’s game with their existing bullpen staff. Jonathan Bowlan pitched a scoreless sixth inning despite allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning.
José Alvarado entered for the seventh inning. The Pirates managed their third straight leadoff base hit, a single from Brandon Lowe, to put a runner on base early. After a lineout from Reynolds, Lowe stole second base, requiring a replay review to prove that he reached the bag safely before getting tagged.
Now in scoring position, Lowe would not need to hustle home as Valdez drove a triple right past a sprinting Justin Crawford in center field. Following a strikeout of Ryan O’Hearn, Valdez scored on a single up the middle from Nick Gonzalez, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead going into the seventh-inning stretch.
“It's kind of game-to-game with Alvy,” Mattingly reflected. “Some games have been good, gotten us big outs. In other games, he gives up the hit that obviously hurts. But in general, I think his stuff is good… he's changed his mix a little bit, been pretty effective since then. This may be the first time he's given up runs since we talked about it.”
Lou Trivino, the final pitcher in the Phillies’ bullpen who had not made an appearance on Wednesday, came in to pitch the top of the eighth. Endy Rodríguez increased the Pirates’ lead, taking a full-count red-zone fastball 395 feet into center field for his fifth home run of the season.
It did not end there. With one out, Trivino allowed a single and two straight walks to load the bases. Valdez then recorded his third RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly, giving the Pirates a 5-1 lead over the Phillies.
For the second inning in a row, the Pirates hit a lead-off home run off the Phillies’ bullpen. Kyle Backhus, who came in to relieve Zack Wheeler on Wednesday, allowed a solo shot into left field to Nick Gonzales to put the final nail in the Phillies’ coffin on the day.
After scoring 25 runs over the first three games in the series, the Phillies' offense seemed to have cooled off on Thursday. Collectively, they only managed four hits against the Pirates.
Harper recorded the sole RBI on the day for the Phillies, scoring Marchán in the third. Harper was joined with Turner, Bohm, and Stott as the lone Phillies to record a hit on the day.
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This concludes the 2026 edition of the Battle of Pennsylvania. Despite splitting the series in Philadelphia, the Phillies come out on top in the season series 5-2 after having swept the Pirates in Pittsburgh in May.
The next time the Phillies play, they will do so knowing who made the National League roster for the 2026 All-Star Game. With a day off on Friday, the Phillies will travel to Kansas City to kick of a three-game series on Independence Day.
“The off day definitely coming at a good time for us,” said Mattingly. “Nine straight, just kind of, I kind of pieced it all together from the last trip. Late nights, a couple late nights, The schedule's been kind of a little uneven for us, playing in heat this week. So definitely a good time for us. I think anytime you can get guys a day off their legs, it's good. And obviously we need to try to get that bullpen where guys are rested in some fashion, where more of the guys are rested.”
Jesús Luzardo is scheduled to start the 8:10 p.m. game, with the All-Star rosters being announced at 7:30 p.m. on FOX.
