Sloppy play costs Bucs in loss to Philadelphia

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Pittsburgh outfielder Jose Tabata made one strong throw after another in the first inning and had only two errors to show for it.

Joe Blanton threw seven effective innings, Jimmy Rollins homered for the fourth time in five games and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pirates 8-3 on Monday night.

Helped by Pittsburgh’s sloppy defense, the Phillies jumped ahead with four runs in the first and the Pirates couldn’t recover. They made four errors including three on errant throws in the first inning — two on the same play.

“It happens,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Everybody plays that way some time.”

Blanton (7-6) allowed three runs — two earned — and seven hits, striking out eight. Despite a 4.87 ERA, Blanton has more wins than Roy Halladay (4) and Cliff Lee (0) combined.

Coming off a disappointing sweep in a day-night doubleheader against Tampa Bay, the last-place Phillies rebounded in the opener of a four-game series with Pittsburgh. They are 15-2 against the Pirates in their last 17 meetings at Citizens Bank Park.

But these aren’t the same old Pirates. They entered the game with the best record in the NL since May 25 at 18-9 and were just one game behind Central-leading Cincinnati.

“We’ll just get over it and come back tomorrow,” Hurdle said.

Jeff Karstens (0-2) gave up seven runs — six earned — and 11 hits in five innings in his first start since April 17. Karstens was on the disabled list with hip and shoulder issues.

“Unfortunately I got the team in a big hole,” Karstens said. “There were some good things, but they were overshadowed by the way the game went.”