Phillies Fall To Red Sox 9-8 In Extra Innings After Blowing 5-0 Lead
(Madeline Ressler/Phillies Nation)
The Phillies couldn’t complete the sweep.
After winning the first two games of the series against the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies couldn’t finish them off for the series sweep, losing the finale 9-8. The Phillies led at one point, 5-0, but were unable to overcome the blown lead, losing in 11 innings.
Jesus Luzardo was on the mound coming off a shaky start against the Angels. However, Luzardo cruised for a majority of his innings, but a fifth-inning implosion destroyed any progress that Luzardo was gaining.
Right out of the gate, the Phillies got going. Luzardo picked up an early strikeout, a lineout, and a groundout to get the bats up quickly, and they were awake right away. Trea Turner led off the bottom of the first with a first-pitch single, and he quickly scored thanks to a bomb off the bat of Kyle Schwarber for his 34th home run of the year.
Up 2-0, Bryce Harper stepped in and he crushed the first pitch he saw into the second deck for a solo home run to make it 3-0 Phillies. For Harper, it was his 14th home run of the season, while also being his 350th home run of his career, making him the eighth active player to reach the 350 home run mark.
Three runs were all the Phillies scored in the first, but Luzardo kept his momentum going into the second. Lauzardo struck out the side, sending Trevor Story, Masataka Yoshida, and Ceddanne Rafaela down on strikes. Fresh off having a baby in the middle of the night, Bryson Stott smoked a double down the right field, but the Phillies failed to bring him in.
It took just six pitches for Luzardo to get through the third inning, and in the bottom half of the inning, Nick Castellanos took one for a drive into left for a home run and made it a 4-0 ballgame.
Rob Refsnyder led off the top of the fourth with a walk, but Luzardo worked around it, getting a pair of groundouts and a strikeout to Jarren Duran. In the bottom of the inning, Stott stepped up again and this time he smoked a ball into the right field seats for a solo home run, increasing the lead to five.
After cruising through the first four innings of work, the fifth inning was when the wheels fell off for Luzardo. Yoshida led off the inning with a double, and Rafaela walked to put two runners on. He then got Wilyer Abreu to strike out and Carlos Narvaez to pop out, but a walk to Marcelo Mayer loaded the bases. Luzardo then walked not one, but two runs in to make it 5-2 Phillies.
Romy Gonzalez stepped up next with the bases still loaded, and he ripped a ball deep into left-center field for a go-ahead grand slam. Luzardo got Story to ground out to third, but the damage was already done as his night was over after five innings of work, allowing six earned runs.
Weak outs from Schwarber, Harper, and Castellanos ended the fifth, but Jordan Romano worked a scoreless top of the sixth, picking up a pair of strikeouts. J.T. Realmuto led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, but a groundout from Brandon Marsh forced one out, and another groundout from Max Kepler forced a double play to end the inning.
Daniel Robert was the next man out of the bullpen and instantly allowed a double to Narvaez and walked Roman Anthony to put two runners on with just one out. Tanner Banks then came on in relief and got a groundout for one one and struck Gonzalez out to end the inning to keep it a one-run game.
Two quick outs from Edmundo Sosa and Stott in the seventh brought Turner up, but he grounded a ball down the first base line for a two-out double. The Red Sox then brought closer Aroldis Chapman into the game to face Schwarber, and Chapman won the battle, getting him to pop out to end the inning.
Still trailing by a run, Orion Kerkering came on next and allowed a single but worked another scoreless inning. In the bottom half of the eighth, Chapman remained in to pitch and got Harper and Castellanos to pop out for two quick outs. Up came Realmuto, and he smoked a game-tying solo shot to center field to make it six all.
In the top of the ninth, Matt Strahm was the next man on in relief and got Narvaez to pop out, but hit Abraham Toro with a pitch, putting the go-ahead run on at first. Strahm locked in and struck out Anthony and Duran to get out of the inning with the game still tied.
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Kepler and Sosa flew out, and Stott grounded out to take the game to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Max Lazar got Alex Bregman to line out to start the inning, but Story ripped a double down the left field line, scoring the ghost runner Duran on second to take a 7-6 lead. Lazar got Yoshida to ground out, and Rafaela forced an out on a ground ball to third, getting Story out.
Down a run, Turner smoked a fly ball deep to right to get Stott to third. Schwarber was up next, and on the first pitch he saw, he smoked a single to right to tie the game at seven. Weston Wilson came on to pinch run for Schwarber, but Harper struck out, and with Castellanos up, Wilson was thrown out trying to steal second.
Now in the 11th inning, Seth Johnson was the next pitcher for the Phillies and got Abreu to strikeout, but Narvaez smoked a two-run home run to left to make it 9-7 Red Sox. Johnson allowed a double to Anthony, but he shook it off, getting Toro and Duran to strike out to go to the bottom of the 11th.
In the bottom of the 11th, Castellanos grounded out to short, and Realmuto struck out for two quick outs, bringing up Johan Rojas as the last chance. Rojas smoked a single to the right to score Harper from third to make it 9-8 Red Sox. Kepler stepped up next and, after battling, was called out on strikes to end the game, losing 9-8.
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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