With the All-Star Break Quickly Approaching, Phils “Didn’t Get it Done” in “Disappointing” Series Loss vs. Nationals
Brynn Anderson/AP Photo
With this weekend being the last home series prior to the All-Star break, the Phillies had the chance to beat up on the last-place Nationals in front of 40,000+ fans. Unfortunately, despite outscoring the Nats 24-11, they ended up being the ones beaten up on, as they won just one of three after dropping the rubber match on Sunday.
Nonetheless, the Phillies have not lost confidence: “We’re going to keep grinding,” Phillies’ outfielder Kyle Schwarber said. “We’re going to keep trying to play our brand of baseball and pile up wins at the end of the night and put ourselves in a good position to win.”
Game Summaries
The Phillies opened the series on Saturday with a tough 2-1 loss, where the offense was unable to support a strong Cris Sanchez, who allowed two runs (one earned) in six innings.
In game two, the script was flipped—the Phillies’ offense erupted for nineteen runs, and the bullpen shut down the Nationals after Zack Wheeler battled through five innings of work. Alec Bohm was 4-5 with two home runs and 6 RBI, and Nick Castellanos was 3-4, falling a triple short of the cycle. Every Phillie in the starting lineup recorded a hit and a run scored, and others such as Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and J.T. Realmuto had multi-RBI afternoons.
“Days like today, when everybody is swinging the bats well and there are a lot of smiles in the dugout, are always fun,” said Phils’ infielder Alec Bohm.
In the series finale, Brandon Marsh made a costly error in centerfield, Ranger Suarez lost his command, and in one swing, Stone Garrett’s grand slam diminished the Phillies’ then-three-run lead. Amid Ranger Suarez’s struggles the Phillies’ offense was not able to resurface, leading to a 5-4 loss.
Defense Continues to Cost Phillies
Errors from Kyle Schwarber are, at this point, expected; his -14 outs above average is dead last in all of major league baseball. But just like manager Rob Thomson mentioned a few weeks ago, you cannot take a guy with 22 home runs and a .326 OBP out of the lineup, and with Bryce Harper unable to play the field, the Phillies have no choice but to play Schwarber in left field. However, when your sure-handed, defensively-focused centerfield begins to make inexcusable miscues, problems arise.
In game three, Marsh miscommunicated with left fielder Kyle Schwarber, an error that ultimately allowed Stone Garrett to bat with the bases loaded in the top of the third instead of with the bases empty in the top of the fourth.
“That’s just bad outfield play by me… I’ve got to be more assertive in that situation,” Marsh said. “…that’s my ball, so I’ve got to speak up and get loud and let it be known that it’s my ball. And I didn’t do that today. It kind of knocked Ranger [Suarez] off his rhythm and that’s on me; that’s not on Ranger. He was rocking and rolling the first three innings.”
As a team, the Phillies had just two errors in the series, but they both had a significant impact on the outcome of the game. Aside from Marsh in game three, Trea Turner made a throwing error in game one that made what should have been a solo home run hit by Stone Garrett (yes, Garrett… again!) a two-run home run thanks to Turner’s error. As it turned out, those two runs were all the Nationals needed to top the Phillies on Friday. Of course, the loss cannot be blamed on Turner’s mistake when the offense scored just one lone run, but it surely cannot be overlooked.
There were also other miscues that were not scored as errors but should have been outs, such as Stone Garrett’s double in the fourth inning of game one, which went in and out of left fielder Kyle Schwarber’s glove.
Power Surge!
For the first time in over five seasons, the Phillies’ offense put more than 19+ runs on the board in a single game. And even though a series loss to the last-place Nationals is the last thing the Phillies were hoping for, a few players seemed to rekindle their stride in the last two games of the series. All-Star Nick Castellanos went 5-9 with two home runs and five RBI in the last two games against Washington, and Bryce Harper went 4-9 with two RBI, logging his first extra-base hit since June 12.
J.T. Realmuto, who has struggled immensely as of late, pulled a solo home run in game three and notched four RBI throughout the series.
In game two, specifically, Alec Bohm stole the show, going yard twice, recording four hits, and knocking in six.
When asked about his performance, Bohm said that he has been working in the batting cages: “Nothing crazy, really. It’s always been there. It’s in there. Really, [it’s] just kind of the way baseball goes. It’s up, it’s down. [I] just try to stay even throughout,” he said.
And one cannot ignore Kyle Schwarber, who topped off the Phillies’ game-two victory with a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth inning.
At times, the Phillies still struggled to hit with runners in scoring position, but for a team that has not met its power expectations that were set at the beginning of the season, games two and three were definitely encouraging.
Following an off day on Monday, the Phillies will face the Rays in a three-game series at Tropicana Field.
