Pittsburgh Pirates vs Philadelphia Phillies Match Player Stats On Jul 03, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 3, 2017

PHILADELPHIA -- Aaron Nola threw seven scoreless innings as the Philadelphia Phillies downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies, who have won four of their past six games after losing 16 of 19, got two-run home runs from Freddy Galvis and Maikel Franco.

Nola had a no-hitter until two outs in the fifth inning, when Jordy Mercer lined a double down the left field line and just out of the reach of third baseman Maikel Franco.

Nola (6-5) allowed four hits, walked one and struck out eight, continuing a string of strong starts. He kept the Pirates off the basepaths, and the rare times he got into trouble, the right-hander got out of it with punchouts.

Joaquin Benoit and Hector Neris each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the shutout.

The toughest spot of the game for Nola came in the seventh after Gregory Polanco singled on a fly ball that fell between second baseman Andres Blanco and right fielder Nick Williams. With two on and no outs, Nola got Francisco Cervelli to ground out before striking out Mercer and pinch hitter John Jaso -- the last two batters he faced -- to end the inning with runners at the corners.

Nola, who missed a month earlier this season with a lower back strain and had his 2016 season end in July due to an elbow injury, has returned to form in the last two weeks.

The Phillies' 2014 first-round draft pick, Nola has gone at least seven innings in each of his last three starts and has allowed just 13 hits and three earned runs in 21 1/3 innings (1.27 ERA), while notching 25 strikeouts (10.5 strikeouts per nine innings).

The Pirates have scored just four runs in their last three games and Monday's loss was their fourth in a row. Pittsburgh starter Ivan Nova (8-6) went six innings but was hurt twice by the long ball.

Galvis got the scoring started in the first inning, launching the first pitch he saw from Nova into the right field bleachers for a two-run shot. Galvis' homer, his eighth of the season, came on the same day he and his wife, Ana, had their second daughter, Nicole.

Franco doubled the Phillies lead to 4-0 when his hard-hit line drive cleared the wall in left field in the third inning for his 11th home run of the season. Galvis, who reached on a bunt single, also scored on the play.

NOTES: Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen was named the National League Player of the Month for June on Monday. McCutchen hit .411 with a 1.193 OPS and 12 extra-base hits in 26 games last month. It was the fifth Player of the Month honor of his career. ... The Pirates activated C Francisco Cervelli off the disabled list Monday and optioned RHP Edgar Santana to Triple-A Indianapolis. Cervelli was in the Pirates' starting lineup Monday night, his first game since June 19, and he went 0-for-3.