The Phils’ bullpen spoil Chase Utley’s return to the club as they can not hold down the Pirates, as the Phils lose to the Bucos, 11-7.

The Phils took the lead in the first as, with two men out, Chase Utley hits a dramatic solo home run, his first home run of the season, as well as his first hit of the year, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. The Phils then took a 2-0 lead as Carlos Ruiz followed with a solo home run of his own, his eleventh home run of the year. The Pirates took the lead in the second as, with two men on, and with two men out, Michael McKenry hits a three-run home run, knocking in Neil Walker, who had earlier walked, then moved up to second base on Jose Tabata’s single, and Tabata, who had just singled, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead. The Pirates added to their lead in the fourth as Casey McGehee hits a lead-off home run, his fourth home run of the season, giving the Pirates a 4-2 lead. The Pirates then took a 5-2 lead as, with runners on the corners, and with two men out, James McDonald hits an RBI single, scoring Walker, who had earlier doubled, then reached third base on Pedro Alvarez’s ground out, 4-3, while moving McKenry, who had just been intentionally walked, on to third base. The Pirates increased their lead in the fifth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Walker hits an RBI single, knocking in Drew Sutton, who had lead-off the inning with a walk, then moved up to second base on Andrew McCutchen’s single, giving the Pirates a 6-2 lead, while sending McCutchen, who had earlier singled, up to third base. The Pirates then made a 7-2 lead as Tabata hits an RBI single, scoring McCutchen, while sending Walker on to third base. The Pirates then took an 8-2 lead as McKendry hits an RBI single, scoring Walker, while sending Tabata up to third base. The Phils started a comeback in the sixth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Hunter Pence hits an RBI double, knocking in Ruiz, who had been safe at first as Utley, who had reached first base on an infield single, is wiped out at second base on a 6-4 force out, cutting the Pirates’ lead down to 8-3. The Phils then made it an 8-4 Pirates’ lead as Shane Victorino hits an RBI single, knocking in Pence. The Phils cut the Pirates’ lead down to 8-5 in the seventh as, with a man on first, and with nobody out, Jimmy Rollins hits an RBI triple, knocking in Hector Luna, who had started the inning off by reaching base on third baseman’s Alvarez’s fielding error. The Phils then made it an 8-6 Pirates’ lead as Juan Pierre hits an RBI single, scoring Rollins. Two batters later, with runners on the corners, as Utley send Pierre to third base with a single to right, and with still nobody out, Ruiz hits an RBI single, scoring Pierre, cutting the Pirates’ lead down to 8-7, while sending Utley up to second base. The Pirates then increased their lead in the eighth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Sutton hits an RBI double, scoring pinch hitter Alex Presley, who had started the inning off with a walk, giving the Pirates a 9-7 lead. The Pirates then made it an 11-7 lead as McCutchen hits a two-run home run, his fourteenth home run of the year, knocking in Sutton. That would end up being the final score as Joel Hanrahan pitched a scoreless ninth.

Raul Valdes (2-1, 3.24) took the lost as he only pitched two innings, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks, while striking out two. Joe Savery pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out two. Michael Schwimer pitched an inning and a third, giving up four hits, while striking out three. Jake Diekman pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Chad Qualls pitched an inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk. Antonio Bastardo pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk. James McDonald (7-3, 2.44) got the win as he pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out three. Jared Hughes pitched a third of an inning, plus two batters, giving up two runs, one of which was earned, on a hit and a walk. Tony Watson pitched to three batters, getting none of them out, as he gave up a run on three hits. Brad Lincoln collected his first hold of the year as he threw a scoreless inning. Jason Grilli pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out a batter. Joel Hanrahan pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

The Phils had ten hits in the game, with Chase Utley (2 Singles, Home Run, RBI), leading the team as he played in his first game after coming off the dl, followed by Jimmy Rollins (Single, Triple, RBI) and Carlos Ruiz (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs) with two hits each. Juan Pierre (Single, RBI), Hunter Pence (Double, RBI) and Shane Victorino (Single, RBI) had the other three Phils’ hits. The Phils also had four walks and two stolen bases (Pierre (17), Victorino (19)) in the ballgame.

The Phils (36-41, 4th East) conclude their series with the Pirates (39-35, 2nd Central) with an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park, already in progress.