Phillies Lose To Padres 6-4 During First Game Of Day-Night Doubleheader
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Not the way the Phillies were hoping to start a doubleheader.
After taking the first game of the series and waiting an entire day due to rain, the Philadelphia Phillies were defeated by the San Diego Padres during the first game of the Day-Night Doubleheader, losing 6-4. The Phillies had a chance to walk it off in the ninth, but a strikeout from Kyle Schwarber ended the comeback.
Mick Abel got the start on the mound, and once again, it was a rough start for the rookie. Abel went just 1.2 innings, allowed five earned runs, and walked five batters. In his last two starts, Abel has pitched just 4.2 innings, allowed nine earned runs and seven hits, posting a 19.29 ERA.
Despite the rough outing, Abel got going right away, striking out Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill in the first inning. Trea Turner led off the bottom half of the first with a bloop single to center but was picked off trying to steal second. With two outs, Bryce Harper blooped a single of his own to center, but a strikeout by Nick Castellanos ended that inning.
However, the top of the second wasn’t as kind to Abel. After striking Gavin Sheets out to start the inning, Xander Bogaerts and Elias Díaz walked, and Jake Cronenworth singled to load the bases. Tatis then worked a walk of his own to score the first run of the game, and Merrill did the same to make it 2-0 Padres.
With the bases still loaded, Abel left a 1-2 curveball over the middle of the plate to Manny Machado, who smoked it down the left field line, clearing the bases and making it 5-0 San Diego, sending Abel to the showers early.
Now down five runs, the Phillies attempted to lighten the deficit. J.T. Realmuto singled in the bottom of the second, but a strikeout to Bryson Stott and an Edmundo Sosa groundout ended that inning. Max Lazar, now on the mound for Abel, got through the third inning unscathed after allowing a single to Bogaerts.
A leadoff single by Johan Rojas in the third brought a baserunner for the top of the Phillies order, but former Phillie Nick Pivetta sent Turner, Harper, and Schwarber all down on strikes to move to fourth. The Padres added to their lead in the top half of the inning, after a walk from Díaz and back-to-back singles from Tatis and Merrill loaded the bases once again. With Luis Arraez up, Lazar walked him on four pitches, bringing in another run.
One run was all the Padres scored as Sheets struck out and Bogaerts grounded out. The Phillies got one-out singles in both the fourth and fifth inning; however, neither inning produced runs. A walk to Merrill in the top of the sixth was all the Padres produced, but in the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies finally got on the board thanks to a solo Schwarbomb.
One run was all the Phillies could produce, but they had life. The extra player called up for the doubleheader, Seth Johnson, was called on to pitch the top of the seventh. Johnson pitched a dominant 1-2-3 inning, picking up two groundouts in the process.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies cut down on their deficit again. Realmuto led the inning with a double to left center and scored two batters later on a triple from Sosa down the left field line. He didn’t stay at third for long as three pitches into Rojas’ at-bat, Sosa scampered home on a wild pitch to make it 6-3 Padres.
Johnson went back out for the eighth inning and once again dominated, picking up a pair of strikeouts to get the Phillies’ bats back up. However, in the bottom of the inning, the Phillies went down in order with Padres pitcher Adrian Morejon throwing just 10 pitches.
In the ninth, Daniel Robert came on to pitch for the Phillies and instantly allowed two runners on, walking one and making a bad throw to second. He then got Arraez to line out and Sheets grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Down to their last at-bats, Realmuto led the inning off with a single, but Stott popped out and Sosa grounded out for two quick outs. Brandon Marsh came on to pinch-hit and ripped a single back up the middle to score Realmuto and make it 6-4. Turner then smoked a single to center field, and Marsh made it to third base on the hit after previously being called out at third.
With runners on the corners, up came Schwarber. With two strikes, Robert Suarez blasted a 101 mph fastball past Schwarber to strike him out, allowing the Padres to hold onto a 6-4 win.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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