Pirates drop into last place in NL Central as Phillies pound 18 hits to sweep 4-game series

The Philadelphia Phillies brought their bats and brooms.

They shelled Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher JT Brubaker on Sunday afternoon for seven runs on 12 hits after the right-hander allowed only two runs on 11 hits in his previous two starts combined.

Kyle Schwarber started a five-run fifth inning by blasting a solo home run as the Phillies had 18 hits to roll to a 8-2 win for a four-game sweep of the Pirates before 19,322 at PNC Park.

The Pirates (40-62) have lost seven consecutive games and 12 of their last 14. They dropped to last place in the NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs (41-59) and a half game behind the Cincinnati Reds (40-61).

“I don’t think he had very good command,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Brubaker. “Everything was in the zone. When you leave the ball in the middle of the zone against that lineup, you’re going to get hit hard. He gave up, what, (12) hits in 4 1/3? Just way too much plate today.”

Center fielder Bryan Reynolds returned from paternity leave, but third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes was scratched from the starting lineup with left knee discomfort. To make room for Reynolds, the Pirates optioned infielder/outfielder Diego Castillo to Triple-A Indianapolis. To replace Hayes, they shifted Josh VanMeter from first to third — the sixth position he has played for the Pirates this season — and started Yoshi Tsutsugo at first base.

Brubaker (2-9) started fast, striking out Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins before giving up two runs on four consecutive hits. Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead, and Nick Castellanos singled to score Realmuto for a 2-0 advantage.

The Pirates returned the two-out trouble in the third, when Kevin Newman doubled to left-center and Cal Mitchell followed with a double to right to cut it to 2-1. Newman went 3 for 4 to boost his batting average to .292.

Schwarber led off the fifth by drilling Brubaker’s full-count sinker, hitting at 111.6-mph exit velocity per Statcast and sending it 441 feet to left field for his 33rd home run and a 3-1 lead.

The Phillies followed with four consecutive singles off Brubaker, including RBIs by Castellanos and Bryson Stott to make it 5-1. Lefty Dillon Peters replaced Brubaker, getting Didi Gregorius to fly out to right before giving up run-scoring singles to Matt Vierling and Odubel Herrera as the Phillies stretched their lead to 7-1.

Bohm pulled Peters’ first-pitch changeup 404 feet to left for his seventh homer and an 8-1 lead, tying his career-best with four hits and falling a triple shy of the cycle.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola (7-8) allowed one run on six hits and one walk in six innings while striking out eight. He was replaced by Mark Appel, who was drafted with the eighth pick of the first round by the Pirates in 2012 but returned to Stanford for his senior season and was selected No. 1 overall by Houston in 2013. After being traded to the Phillies, he retired in 2018 but returned last year and made his MLB debut late last month.

Appel finally got to pitch at PNC Park, just for the Phillies. He pitched a clean seventh, getting Tsutsugo to ground out, Tyler Heineman to pop out and Newman to strike out. Mitchell singled off Appel in the eighth, but he retired the rest in order.

In the ninth, Tsutsugo delivered an RBI single off Jeurys Familia that scored Oneil Cruz from second to cut it to 8-2. The game ended on a spectacular double play by Gregorius, who was knocked over by Newman’s sharp grounder but made the throw sitting on the dirt.

The Pirates know changes could be coming to their roster by Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline.

“Once we get through that, we’ll have to make a decision of how we function our roster after that,” Shelton said. “We have the ability with guys we have on the 40-man that, if we do actually make some moves, to recall them. In terms of the ‘shakeup,’ we’re not going to shake it up just because of the fact that we haven’t won games. I think it’s more that we have to have guys perform.”