By Stephen Pianovich, The Sports Xchange

PHILADELPHIA -- Freddy Galvis' power stroke continued Wednesday night, as did the Pittsburgh Pirates' late-season struggles.

Galvis homered for the third time in four games, and the Philadelphia Phillies had 15 hits in a 6-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia also got a home run from Tommy Joseph, and on the mound, rookie Jake Thompson provided six strong innings. Every starting position player for the Phillies had a hit, and six players had multi-hit games.

The Phillies' offensive outburst started in the second inning when Galvis' 19th homer of the season made it 2-0. The homer was the eighth in 24 contests for Galvis, who entered the game with a .269 on-base percentage.

"In 500, 550 at-bats, if you put a good 20 swings on the ball, especially in this park, then you can hit homers," said Galvis, who had just 20 career homers entering the season. "I've been good with that. I think I have to do better with my on-base percentage and getting my average up, but I think I'm helping the team."

Philadelphia kept piling it on against Pirates starter Steven Brault. Every Phillies position player recorded a hit by the fourth inning. Two more runs scored in the third, one on a Cameron Rupp double and another on an error, and Maikel Franco added an RBI double in the fourth to chase Brault.

The Pirates rookie allowed five runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings, and he gave up nine hits -- all in the span of 16 batters. It was the shortest of the lefty's four major league outings, and his ERA rose to 3.90.

"In the first inning, I felt great," Brault said. "I was excited about the whole night. Then, the second inning happened real quickly. From there, everything kind of went downhill."

The loss was the 13th in 16 games for Pittsburgh, which is now 70-74 and has seen its National League wild-card hopes take a major hit in the last two-and-a-half weeks. The Pirates trail the Mets by six games for the league's second wild-card spot, and their playoff elimination number sits at 12 heading into Thursday's series finale in Philadelphia.

Thompson ended up recording three inning-ending double plays, doing so in the first, fifth and sixth frames. The rookie got his second major league win in his eighth start, going six innings while allowing two runs on six hits to go with a trio of strikeouts and walks.

It was the fourth consecutive start in which Thompson has allowed two earned runs or less, as he seems to be getting his footing at baseball's top level. After a forgettable first four starts when Thompson registered a 9.78 ERA, he has a 2.49 ERA in his latest four.

"Thompson pitched pretty well. He did a good job, giving us six good innings," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "The first inning he got out of the jam with a double play, that was huge. It set the tone. We had three double plays, which help."

The Pirates offense all came in the fourth inning. Andrew McCutchen got Pittsburgh on the board with a solo home run, his 21st of the season which ties him for the team lead with Gregory Polanco. It was Polanco who scored the other run in the frame, crossing the plate on a Sean Rodriguez sacrifice fly.

Pittsburgh had nine hits on the night and walked six times, but could not generate any other runs. The Pirates threatened off the Phillies bullpen in the ninth with two hits in the inning, but Rodriguez was thrown out by center fielder Roman Quinn trying to score with one out, a call that was confirmed after a video review.

If Rodriguez had been held by third-base coach Rick Sofield, the Pirates would have had the bases loaded with one out and the potential tying run at the plate. Instead, the game ended when Jeanmar Gomez struck out the next batter, pinch hitter Jason Rogers, to convert his 37th save.

"You can't send him," Hurdle said. "Unless there's no play or the ball is against the track. You have two outs to play with, get the bases loaded with the tying run at the plate and (Josh) Bell on deck. We made a bad decision there."

NOTES: Major League Baseball released the 2017 regular-season schedule with the Phillies opening their campaign against the Reds in Cincinnati on April 3. Philadelphia's home opener will come four days later as it welcomes the Washington Nationals to Citizens Bank Park. ... The Pirates' 2017 season will get started under the Green Monster. Pittsburgh will begin a three-game set against the Red Sox in Boston, starting on April 3. The Pirates will have their home opener against the Braves on April 7.