Brandon Marsh homers twice, but Phillies can’t power their way past Pirates after rough start from Aaron Nola
Marsh hit a pair of home runs — and Trea Turner and Bryce Harper added homers of their own — but it wasn’t enough to overcome Nola’s poor start.
The Phillies were nearly out of it.
But Seth Johnson, who inherited the bases loaded from Aaron Nola and then walked in the go-ahead run, had induced the contact he needed. A double play would keep it a one-run game against the Pirates, and when Tyler Callihan grounded one toward Bryce Harper, they had a chance at it.
But after getting the force out at second, Trea Turner lost his grip on the ball and flung it well over Johnson’s head, all the way to the railing of the dugout.
Two more runs scored, capping an ugly six-run fifth inning for the Pirates that proved insurmountable for the Phillies, as they fell 11-7, in Monday’s series opener.
The Phillies squandered an early 5-0 lead, mainly built with three homers off Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft. Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh each bashed solo shots in the first inning, while Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the third.
All three home runs came in a two-strike count.
But Phillies starter Aaron Nola had issues with homers, too. He looked efficient early, with an eight-pitch first inning, but started to falter in the fourth. Bryan Reynolds was inches away from clearing the top of the railing in left-center, settling for a leadoff double. He scored anyway when Esmerlyn Valdez teed up a curveball over the middle of the plate for a two-run shot.
The wheels fell off in the fifth, which unraveled quickly. Nola allowed four hits — including another homer and a double — and walked two in the frame. Three runs had already scored when Johnson finally relieved him, and all three runners he inherited would score, too.
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The two homers Nola allowed Monday upped his season total to 19, which is tied for fifth-most among pitchers this year.
The throwing error Turner committed in the fifth is his 11th of the year, which has already surpassed his full-season total of eight in 2025.
Even a three-run deficit didn’t feel impossible for a team that had three consecutive come-from-behind wins last week against the Nationals — two of which came down to their final strike in the ninth.
And they did come close to repeating the feat. Marsh hit his second homer of the game in the eighth to start chipping away. He fell behind in the count, 1-2, to Gregory Soto, but put a good swing on a high and inside fastball. Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back two-out singles to make it 8-7.
Derek Hill kept the line moving with a walk, but Justin Crawford was called out on strikes to end it, stranding two.
But the Pirates struck right back in the ninth. Pittsburgh catcher Endy Rodríguez powered a three-run homer off Chase Shugart to put them back ahead by four runs.
Turner struck out, Schwarber grounded out, and Marsh struck out to end it.