Taijuan Walker pitches maybe his last appearance of 2024, Phillies lose hangover game to Cubs
AP Photo/Matt Slocum
A night after rejoicing, celebration, and euphoria of winning their first National League East crown in 13 years, the Phillies got crushed by the Cubs.
Bryce Harper hit his 30th home run of the season in the bottom of the first, barely sneaking over the center field wall, and that was pretty much it for the night.
The Phils fell 10-4 in the hangover game to the Cubs. The Brewers also beat the Pirates, 7-2, so the magic number to clinch a first-round bye remains two.
Tanner Banks started for the Phillies Tuesday night in their bullpen game at Citizens Bank Park. After a scoreless first inning, he exited the game with one out, and the bases juiced in the second. And in came Taijuan Walker. And it was a disaster.
He walked the first two batters for two runs, allowed an RBI fielder’s choice, a two-run single from Seiya Suzuki, and an RBI single for Cody Bellinger. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a total of six runs. Walker entered a really ugly situation but was not able to clean up the mess. He made it much worse.
Walker was pulled in the top of the fourth inning with a two-in-scoring position and no outs. He received boos on his way off the field. Was it his final appearance of 2024? Very possible. His three runs in his 1 2/3 innings Tuesday bolstered his ERA to 7.10.
Was it his last as a member of the Phillies? I do not know. It would eat $36 million, and that is a lot.
You have to feel for Walker. He has been terrible all year, and he knows it. He began as a starter and stunk. Moved to the bullpen as a long man, and was ok. Got another chance to start, and stunk. And now, he may have pitched his way out of the mop-up man role, and off the postseason roster for the second year in a row.
It has gotten to a point with him where he is a liability out there. He has no business pitching on a major league field right now. And what hurts to see for me is that he knows it. Maybe we should give him a standing ovation (haha).
Kolby Allard came in for Walker and was fine. He allowed five hits and four runs in four innings. Allard will probably be on the postseason roster as the mop-up man, which was Walker’s hopeful role. Allard is able to get a team through a ballgame without killing the bullpen. Walker, on the other hand, did not prove himself he could do that.
Kyle Schwarber did hit his 38th homer of the season in the bottom of the eighth, so he is approaching 40.
So, the Phils will look for a series win over the Cubs in their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday night. Cristopher Sanchez gets the ball for the Phils, and they all should not be hungover like they were on Tuesday.
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Benjamin Goldstein
Benjamin has been covering Philly Sports for Philly Sports Reports since 2017. He is a podcaster, writer, and founder of Philly Sports Reports. Benjamin is also an intern at the WBCB Sports Network on 1490AM. Through Philly Sports Reports, Benjamin has gotten the opportunity to meet Phillies owner John Middleton in his suite and be honored as the Philadelphia sports fan of the week for KYW News Radio. He hopes to be reporting on Philly sports as a full-time job in the future.
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