Home runs hinder Jones in otherwise strong start; Pirates stifled in loss to Phillies

Pittsburgh Pirates v Philadelphia Phillies PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 11: Michael A. Taylor #18 and Edward Olivares #38 of the Pittsburgh Pirates collide and drop a ball off the bat of Nick Castellanos of the Philadelphia Phillies (not pictured) in the bottom of the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Park on April 11, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Pirates 5-1. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) (Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

April 12, 2024 at 12:13 p.m. UTC

By Danny Demilio, Pittsburgh Baseball Now

This article originally appeared on pittsburghbaseballnow.com.

Jared Jones once again did some really impressive things on the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he surrendered a pair of home runs for the second-straight start.

While the Philadelphia Phillies hit a trio of home runs as a team, the Pirates’ bats fell flat in their 5-1 loss at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night.

Two pitches into Jones’ outing, the Phillies (7-6) had runners on first and second as Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner each recorded first-pitch singles. Jones was able to get out of the early jam by getting Bryce Harper to bounce into a double play and J.T. Realmuto to line out.