PITTSBURGH (AP)—All season, the Philadelphia Phillies have waited to have their entire everyday lineup available.Friday, they finally got it. What it didn’t get was any sustained offense.
Cole Hamels(notes) allowed only one hit in eight innings, but the Phillies managed only six hits in a 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“We didn’t hit,” Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. “We need to score some runs. Hamels pitched very good. The bullpen was good. We went five innings where we didn’t square a ball up. We went 15 outs and didn’t hit a ball on the nose.”
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 31: Starting pitcher Cliff Lee #33 of the Philadelphia Phillies delivers to a Washington Nationals batter during the second inning at Nationals Park on May 31, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
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Jose Tabata(notes) hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 12th inning as the Phillies lost their third consecutive game for only the second time this season.
Philadelphia has scored only four runs in those three games.
“I think this lineup is going to hit,” Manuel said. “It has to hit. I’ve got confidence in those guys hitting. I’ve seen those guys hit for four or five years, some of those guys for six or seven years. I don’t see any reason why we won’t hit. We can get started any time we want, though. That’s how I look at it. I like the lineup.”
Outfielder Shane Victorino(notes) was activated from the disabled list Friday; he, Chase Utley(notes), Ruiz and Domonic Brown(notes) had all missed parts of the season thus far with injury.
But having all their regulars available did little to help an offense that ranks a pedestrian 18th in the majors in runs.
“It’s good to have everyone together,” Hamels said. “Now we need to try to keep guys healthy, go out and play to the best of our ability and try to get on a positive roll.”
Tabata smacked a sinking liner off of Danys Baez(notes) (1-3) toward the hole on the right side that a lunging Utley got a glove on but could not handle. Right fielder Ben Francisco’s(notes) throw was not in time, giving Tabata his second RBI of the game when Xavier Paul(notes) scored from second. Paul had singled with two outs and stole a base.
Pittsburgh won for the third time in four games.
Hamels and Jeff Karstens(notes) had dueling one-hitters going through five innings.
“I really felt fortunate to get out of it by giving up only one run,” Hamels said. “I wasn’t happy about how I executed my pitches. A lot of guys hit balls hard but they were right at guys. We played good defense and that saved me.”
Daniel Moskos(notes) (1-0) earned his first major league win for Pittsburgh.
Moskos worked a perfect top of the 12th—surviving a Carlos Ruiz(notes) fly to the warning track in right-center.
The crowd of 33,861 was the Pirates’ third-largest of the season—heavily aided by several thousand Phillies fans who had made the cross-state drive.
Jimmy Rollins(notes) led of the game with an infield single, but Karstens retired 15 of the next 16 he faced.
After Karstens hit Ryan Howard(notes) with a pitch later in the first, the Phillies didn’t have another baserunner until the sixth. They had two on and none out with the heart of their order coming up, prompting the sea of red in the stands to start chanting “Let’s go Phillies!”
Placido Polanco(notes) lined into a double play, but Rollins stole second, and Utley drove him in when he softly lined a single that found its way through the right side of the infield.
The Pirates tied the game at 1 in the bottom of the inning without a hit.
Cedeno led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Karstens. A wild pitch got him to third and he scored when Tabata flew out to deep right.
Karstens, who had two strikeouts and did not walk a batter, continued a recent stretch of good Pirates starting pitching. Paul Maholm(notes) allowed six earned runs in Pittsburgh’s previous game Thursday, snapping a streak of 13 games in which starters allowed two earned runs or less.
“We know what their starting staff is like, and we know what our job is: Try to go out there and keep pace with Cole and give our team a chance to win,” Karstens said. “It took a little longer than we wanted but we eventually got the big hit in the 12th.
“It was a fun game,” Karstens said.
Hamels pitched well enough to win what would have been his fourth consecutive start for the third time in his career and tie Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia(notes) for the majors’ lead in victories with eight. He has allowed only 20 earned runs over his past 11 starts.
“He was really sharp, Hamels,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “There wasn’t a lot of hittable balls for us.”
NOTES: The walkoff hit was Tabata’s second of the season, the other coming April 8 against Colorado. … Victorino, out since May 18 with a strained right hamstring, went 0 for 5. … The Pirates are 21-12 against the Phillies at 10-year-old PNC Park. … Philadelphia has lost nine of its past 14 road games. … The only other time Philadelphia lost as many as three in a row was a four-game skid May 14-17. … .. Rollins stole two bases, extending the Phillies’ streak to 11 consecutive successful steals and 23 out of 24.