Despite a homer by Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Phillies on Monday in a cold night in Philadelphia.

Joe Blanton dominated the Bucs early on. He had great command, and Tony Watson and Evan Meek, the Pirates' first two pitchers, looked in comparison like they were just trying to throw the ball in the vicinity of the plate. The Phillies got a run in the first after Juan Pierre doubled, then another in the second after Shane Victorino tripled. In the third, Pierre got hit by a pitch, then headed home on a double by Jimmy Rollins. I'm all for the Pirates doing their part to convince the Phillies that giving playing time to Pierre is a good idea, but it wasn't fun to see all those extra-base hits while the Bucs' offense struggled to do anything at all.

The Pirates eventually got to Blanton in the fourth, stringing together singles by Jose Tabata and Neil Walker and a double by Garrett Jones. The Bucs then tied the game at three on McCutchen's homer in the sixth.

The Phillies scored the winning run on a Freddy Galvis RBI triple off Class AA reliever Ryan Beckman in the seventh. Beckman pitched pretty well otherwise, although I don't think his velocity topped 88 MPH.

Pedro Alvarez went 0-for-3, and I don't think he made any hard contact.