 for his fourth career walk-off homer. Rodriguez was in a 1-for-21 slump before he connected.''Think about it. Who is looking bad and feeling entitled when you hear stuff like that?'' Rodriguez said about the criticism. ''I'm not the one booing. I'm not the one screaming. I'm not the one saying pretty disgusting things at times. That seems pretty entitled. You're just making yourself look pretty bad as an individual, as a person, as a fan. ... There's still a lot of good fans, though, and those are the ones I hear.'' Philadelphia moved within a game of the idle Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card.Bryce Harper launched a solo homer to right field with two outs in the eighth in his first game back from paternity leave to cut it to 4-3. After J. T. Realmuto's infield single, Dickerson ripped one out to right to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead.Dickerson, acquired from the Pirates before the July 31 trade deadline, has 21 RBIs in 19 games for the Phillies.Bell has been slumping and wasn't in the starting lineup but he crushed a 432-foot homer off Neris for his 33rd this season. Neris has five blown saves in 28 chances this season.Rhys Hoskins fouled out with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth and heard a chorus of boos as he walked to the dugout. Harper struck out swinging at a 3-2 pitch to send it to extra innings.''I could care less about that,'' Hoskins said of the boos. ''We won the game.'' Mike Morin (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings for the win.Phillies starter Jason Vargas allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings.''This one was a must-have,'' Vargas said. ''Guys came up big. Sean came up big there. We just fought to the end.'' Pirates starter Joe Musgrove gave up two runs and five hits, striking out six in six innings.Kevin Newman's two-run single off reliever Jared Hughes in the seventh gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead.Brad Miller slammed an opposite-field, two-run shot in the fourth to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Miller was only 4 for 27 with two RBIs since his last homer on July 16.The Pirates cut it to 2-1 in the fifth when Adam Frazier ripped a double with two outs and Musgrove smacked an RBI single off the left field wall.NO RUN ZONERealmuto threw out three runners trying to steal second base. He has nailed 33 of 75 runners trying to steal this season.BENCHEDPhillies 2B Cesar Hernandez wasn't in the starting lineup because he didn't run hard on a ball off the wall in Sunday's 3-2 loss at Miami. Hernandez thought he hit a homer and settled for a single when it didn't go out. He scored when Hoskins followed with a homer. Manager Gabe Kapler said: ''It's not a punishment. It's a response.'' DADDY'S BACKHarper returned following the birth of his son, Krew Aron. 3B Maikel Franco was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room on the roster.TRAINER'S ROOMPhillies: INF-OF Scott Kingery left the game with abdominal soreness but Kapler said after the game it was gastrointestinal and not a muscular injury. ... OF Jay Bruce (left flexor strain) is scheduled to play two rehab games Friday and Saturday. ... RHP Pat Neshek (hamstring) is considering an injection and possibly surgery.UP NEXTLHP Drew Smyly (2-6, 6.99 ERA) starts for the Phillies and LHP Steven Brault (3-3, 3.98) goes for the Pirates on Tuesday night.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Phillies seek bounce-back vs. improving PiratesFLMThe Philadelphia Phillies' playoff hopes took a major hit in South Florida over the weekend, and the club will turn to a trade-deadline acquisition in an effort to get them back on track Monday.The Phillies return home after losing two of three to the Miami Marlins, owners of the worst record in the National League, and time is running out on postseason aspirations for manger Gabe Kapler's club.Jason Vargas (6-6, 3.99 ERA) will take the mound Monday night as Philadelphia hosts in-state rival Pittsburgh.Putting away some of the league's struggling teams has been a problem for the Phillies, who are 7-9 against the Marlins and lost their third straight series against the last-place team in the NL East.The most difficult loss to bear was likely Friday night's series opener.Philadelphia grabbed a 7-0 lead, squandered it quickly and was routed 19-11 by the Marlins in an embarrassing defeat."You recognize that it's unacceptable," Kapler told reporters of the poor play in the 30-run game. "I think you just call that out. ... We have to find ways to do a better job, and then we have to quickly turn the page." Since being obtained from the New York Mets, Vargas is 0-1 in four starts, allowing two runs in three of them, and has pitched to a 3.91 ERA.The left-hander, who won his only start against Pittsburgh this season in his last start for the Mets on July 28, is 2-0 with a 7.11 ERA in six career appearances (three starts) against the Pirates.Bryce Harper (paternity list) will return to the lineup on Monday after leaving for Las Vegas on Wednesday night to be with wife Kayla for the birth of their son.Harper is batting .290 with nine homers and 20 RBIs with a 1.139 OPS in his last 17 games.Pittsburgh has struggled greatly after the All-Star break, posting an 8-30 record in the latter part of July and August until Cincinnati came to PNC Park over the weekend.However, the Pirates swept the three-game series against the Reds and have won four of their last six games.They scored 26 runs in the sweep, routing the NL Central foe 14-0 on Saturday behind six shutout innings from Trevor Williams and a pinch-hit grand slam from Colin Moran.Slugger Josh Bell also belted his 32nd homer, a three-run shot that pushed him past the 100-RBI plateau for the first time.He became the first Pirates player to hit the century mark since Pedro Alvarez hit the mark on the nose and added 36 homers in 2013."There's a lot of weight on that number, so it's cool to get that out of the way. Strive for more. It's cool to have that check go off in that box," Bell said.Joe Musgrove (8-12, 4.74) will start for the Pirates. He threw six strong innings in beating the Phillies on July 20, giving up two hits and no earned runs while striking out eight in his lone outing against Philadelphia this season.The righty also won his only other appearance against Philadelphia with three innings of scoreless relief on July 24, 2017.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (8/26/2019)
ShaggyRA
