‘We didn’t play great’

Throughout the past 10 days, it seemed as though little could go wrong for the Pirates. A strong combination of solid pitching, reliable fielding, aggressive base running and timely hitting led Derek Shelton’s club to a season-best six-game win streak and three consecutive series victories.

But that stretch of good fortune came to an end Sunday. Rather than completing a sweep of the Phillies, the Pirates were shut out in the afternoon series finale, losing 6-0 to their Keystone State rival at PNC Park.

“We didn’t play great today,” Shelton said. “... We didn’t play great today but overall I thought we played well over the weekend.”

After outsourcing their opponents 32-15 during their six-game streak, the Pirates bats were kept quiet by Phillies’ rookie Tyler Phillips. A 26-year-old right-hander, Phillips tossed six scoreless innings, surrendering just four hits and a walk while striking out three. The Pirates managed to get just one base runner in scoring position during Phillips’ time on the mound. He was the game’s winning pitcher, improving him to 2-0 on the season.

“He kind of mixed and matched,” Shelton said. “The kid’s got a good sinker. He did a good job with our right-handers, getting the ball in and going off the plate and then overall mixing with the sweeper and the other breaking ball.”

Little changed for the Pirates’ offense following Phillips’ exit. Yunior Marte, Jose Alvarado and Jose Ruiz each came on to throw a scoreless inning to complete the shutout. The Pirates finished the contest with six hits, all of them singles. Joey Bart was the lone Pirate to tally a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-3.

On the mound

In just his second start since returning from a long stint on the injured list, Marco Gonzales failed to complete five frames for the first time this season. The veteran left-hander was pulled from the game with two outs and two men aboard in the top of the fifth inning.

“I felt like besides the one inning we really kept them off-balanced,” Gonzales said. “Was trying to fill up the strike zone. They were really aggressive so we tried to use that against them and get some early swings. Overall, I was happy with today for sure.”

After an efficient showing in his previous start, Gonzales had less command Sunday, throwing just 56 of his 84 pitches for strikes.

Both of the runs he surrendered came in the second inning, the first coming on a sacrifice fly from Weston Wilson and the second on an RBI single by Garrett Stubbs on the next at-bat. Gonzales was the game’s losing pitcher, falling to 1-1 on the season.

“I thought he did a good job,” Shelton said. “He gave up two runs. We got him up to 84 pitches — I think that’s the most he’s thrown in a while. I think he’s only thrown 90 in a game for us this year before he got injured. Two runs against that lineup, he gave up a fly ball that hit against the wall and then a sac-fly, so overall, I thought he was effective.”

At the plate

Perhaps the most frustrating at-bat for the Pirates came in the bottom of the fourth, when Ke’Bryan Hayes bounced into an inning ending double play.

Despite being ahead in the count 3-0, Hayes decided to swing.

To make things worse, the pitch he connected on was well outside the strike zone.

Hayes did redeem himself in his following at-bat with a single to right-field.

He finished the first series of the second half with three hits in 12 at-bats.

In the field

A close game was broken open in the top of the seventh after the Phillies took full advantage of a fielding error by Oneil Cruz. The play occurred on a ground ball hit to the right side by Kyle Schwarber.

With a runner on first and one out, Nick Gonzales fielded the ball cleanly and delivered a quick throw to Cruz at second base, hoping to turn a double play. But Cruz dropped the ball, allowing both runners to remain safe.

“I think he just got too quick trying to get a double play to get out of the inning,” Shelton said. “That happens. … Cruz has played well defensively, today he just had a tough day.”

Trea Turner brought home Stubbs, the runner at second base, the next at-bat with a single. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with RBIs of their own, making the score 5-0.

Right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas allowed all three runs, which were deemed unearned due to Cruz’s error. The error was Cruz’s first since June 25, and his 13th on the season. He committed an additional error in the ninth inning.

They said it

“This one stings,” Gonzales said. “I think we didn’t execute the way we wanted to and score runs, but to take two out of three from the team with the best record as to feel good. We’re playing with some momentum now, playing with some fire, so I just love what I see from the guys and I think taking this one to heart is important and looking at what we can improve on. But overall, we gotta look at the two out of three from the Phillies and be happy with that.”

Noah Hiles: nhiles@post-gazette.com and @_NoahHiles on X