Domonic Brown lays it all out for a nice catch in left field.
A 2012 problem popped up for the first time in 2013: the eighth inning and the bullpen.
The Phillies' bullpen entered Wednesday night's game having allowed one or no runs in 14 of their last 16 games. They had a two-run lead.
It was the Pirates who took home the two-run victory in the end, scoring four runs in the final three innings to beat the Phillies for the second straight night, 5-3, at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies jumped on the board in the first thanks to a tremendous second-deck blast by Chase Utley.
Roy Halladay worked around minor trouble in the first three innings before allowing a two-out run on an RBI single by Pedro Alvarez.
The Phillies got the run right back in the bottom of the fourth on another blast, this time by Ryan Howard.
Halladay pitched six innings with the only hit allowed being Alvarez' RBI single. He walked two and struck out eight.
In the bottom of the sixth, Halladay was lifted for a pinch-hitter in Kevin Frandsen with two runners on. Frandsen delivered an RBI single to give the Phillies a two-run lead.
Antonio Bastardo entered for the seventh and gave away the insurance run quickly as Alvarez homered to cut the lead to one. But Bastardo escaped with no further damage.
That brought Mike Adams into the game for the eighth. Adams was possibly the most important signing the Phillies made in the offseason. He was supposed to set up Jonathan Papelbon for save opportunities by working through the eighth inning. It was clear early on that Adams was not on his game.
Adams walked the lead-off batter and two singles later, the game was tied courtesy of Travis Snider. After Andrew McCutchen was walked, Adams was lifted for Jeremy Horst.
Horst allowed the go-ahead single to Brandon Inge, but retired the side otherwise, keeping the Pirates' lead at one.
After the Phillies went quietly in the eighth, Horst returned for the ninth and appeared to be on his way to another scoreless inning. But McCutchen's weak fly ball to shallow right went off the glove of Utley and led to an RBI triple.
Jason Grilli finished the job with ease. Aside from a hit batter, he retired the Phillies in the ninth to seal the win.
The Phillies are now 9-13 on the season heading into the series finale with the Pirates on Thursday afternoon.
Cliff Lee gets the start against James McDonald. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
Kevin Durso is a contributor for Philliedelphia. You can follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
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