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 "He had, for me, his best performance of the season," Hurdle
said, after Locke pitched seven strong innings to earn a 6-4
victory.
Locke, who won for the fifth time in six decisions to improve to
7-4, allowed one run and three hits, all in the fourth inning. He
retired the first 10 hitters he faced, as well as the last 10, and
finished with nine strikeouts and nary a walk.
"Just a fantastic outing," Hurdle said, who praised Locke's fastball
command and velocity, while saying his curveball was "outstanding."
Locke, who threw 92 pitches (including 67 strikes), agreed with his
manager's assessment.
"When it comes to being able to throw all three pitches for strikes
and being efficient with first-pitch strikes and getting ahead of
the hitters, I would say he hit it right on the head," he said,
after improving to 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA in four career starts against
the Phillies. "I felt really in control most of the night."
Especially with his curveball, a pitch he struggles to control.
"Today it was more effective than it has been probably in my
duration in the major leagues," he said. "All of it kind of came
together at one point, and we kept rolling with it."
"It was his best pitch in the minor leagues," Hurdle said. "He had
it in his pocket, and there's been some games where it's shown up
better than others. Sometimes they get a feel for it, and it's just
there, and the finish it had tonight was exceptionally strong --
just hard, late tilt."
Left fielder Starling Marte, who extended his hitting streak to
eight games, went 3-for-5 with a homer for the Pirates. Pittsburgh
won its fourth consecutive game to maintain its hold on the National
League's second wild card.
Center fielder Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 for the Pirates, his
third straight three-hit game.
Philadelphia saw a four-game home winning streak end, but lost for
the sixth time in their last seven meetings with the Pirates in
Citizens Bank Park.
Locke departed with a 6-1 lead. The Phillies scored three unearned
runs against the Pirates bullpen in the bottom of the eighth on a
sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Cesar Hernandez and a two-run triple
by second baseman Chase Utley.
Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth for his 27th save.
Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (8-12) saw a personal three-game
winning streak end, going seven innings and allowing five runs and
nine hits. He struck out eight, matching a career high, and walked
two.
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Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins tripled and scored on a single by first
baseman Ryan Howard in the fourth, but Marte homered with a man aboard
one inning later, giving Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. It was Marte's 11th home
run of the season.
The Pirates tacked on four runs in the eighth. McCutchen led off the
inning with an infield single, and continued to second on a throwing
error by Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco.
Second baseman Neil Walker delivered McCutchen with an RBI single, and
catcher Russell Martin followed with a hit-and-run single, sending
Walker to third. Pinch hitter Gaby Sanchez drove in the run with a
sacrifice fly.
Shortstop Jordy Mercer and third baseman Brent Morel capped the inning
with consecutive RBI doubles.
Kendrick said he talked manager Ryne Sandberg into pitching the eighth.
"I wanted one more," Kendrick said. "It didn't work out. I don't think
I'll make that mistake again."
"Overall he pitched good," Sandberg said. "He had a good seventh inning
(retiring the side in order). We thought we'd let him go out in the
eighth."
NOTES: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins left the game after four innings with a
strained left hamstring. Asked afterward how long he thinks he might be
out, he said, "We're looking at 10 days." ... Neither INF/OF Josh
Harrison (sprained left ankle) nor 3B Pedro Alvarez (sprained left foot)
played for Pittsburgh. Harrison suffered his injury Saturday against the
Chicago Cubs, while Alvarez, injured Aug. 26 against St. Louis, has made
only one appearance since, that coming when he pinch hit Friday against
the Cubs. ... The Phillies began the night with victories in five of
their last six series, with all five coming against teams with winning
records: Seattle, St. Louis, Washington (twice) and Atlanta. ... Before
the game, the Phillies saluted LHP Cole Hamels, LHP Jake Diekman, RHP
Ken Giles and RHP Jonathan Papelbon for their combined no-hitter on
Sept. 1 at Atlanta, the first such game in franchise history.
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reserved.]
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