Phillies’ Bullpen Struggles at the House of Horrors in 6-5 loss
Aug 26, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader (2) hits a two run home run against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Game two at Citi Field featured two southpaws, Jesus Luzardo and Sean Manaea, and a little less chaos than the night before; however, much more drama.
Luzardo had come off one of his better starts in recent memory, which included 12 strikeouts and only one run allowed. As for Manaea, he had been struggling in August, allowing 17 runs in his last four starts. The Phillies had not faced Manaea since the NLDS when he threw seven innings of one-run baseball.
Manaea didn’t resemble that NLDS start tonight, though it looked like he might as he started the game with seven strikeouts through four innings. The Phillies’ offense got to him in the fifth just as the Mets’ offense got to Luzardo in the bottom half. Neither bullpen held onto the leads given to them as Orion Kerkering allowed the Mets to take a three-run lead when he relieved Luzardo’s dirty inning. Ryan Helsley was no better, however, as he blew a two-run lead and the Phillies tied it up late in the game. It was up to Jhoan Duran to bring the game to extra innings, but he did not record an out in the ninth, and the Mets took game two 6-5.
Luzardo ran into early trouble in Juan Soto‘s first at-bat when home-plate umpire Willie Traynor missed three calls (according to BaseballSavant) and called a timeout as Luzardo was in his motion. Soto walked, and Luzardo found himself in a jam shortly after but worked his way out of it.
Umpire troubles continued. Luzardo picked off Tyrone Taylor, but second-base ump Dan Iassonga ruled him safe. Seconds later, the call was overturned. Disagreements were felt on both sides as well; Jeff McNeil had some words for Traynor in the first pitch of his at-bat and barked at him again after he struck out.
As inconsistent as the umpires had been, the Phillies had more inconsistency. There were many glaring similarities to Manaea’s start in the NLDS versus the Phils last year; they were undisciplined at the plate and chasing offspeed.
He finished the night with 19 total whiffs, and 11 of them were collected by his sweeper. Since Manaea lowered his arm slot, many lefties have struggled distinguishing his sweeper and his fastball — especially Phillies hitters, regardless of handedness. It showed tonight.
The other southpaw toeing the rubber had a solid four innings similar to Manaea. Luzardo reached five strikeouts through four innings of work with a similar pitch count in a tie game.
Manaea’s whiff-heavy start ended in the fifth with a Bader-Turner hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. Former Phillie, Gregory Soto, relieved Manaea and loaded the bases up for Bryce Harper, who already had two singles on the night.
Harper didn’t hit it hard or well, but it broke the stalemate and brought two runs in.
Luzardo sparked the Mets’ offense in the fifth when he hit his second batter of the night. Soto brought a run in with runners on the corners, and an errant throw from Harrison Bader advanced runners to second and third with nobody out.
More sloppy defense just as they had the night before with their ace on the mound. And just like Manaea had, Luzardo flamed out in the fifth and was replaced by Kerkering with bases loaded. Two pitches later, and it was a 3-2 ballgame.
However, it became a tale of two bullpens in the eighth when the Mets’ big trade-deadline acquisition, Ryan Helsley, came to pitch. With a runner on second, Bader battled for six pitches before launching a game-tying blast.
Tanner Banks and Jose Alvarado cleaned up their respective innings and brought a tie game into the ninth inning. The Phils had their 2-3-4 hitters due up, and the Mets had their 3-4-5 hitters due for the bottom half. Edwin Diaz picked up his fellow reliever, as Banks and Alvarado did to Kerkering, and retired the heart of the Phillies lineup.
Rob Thomson called on Duran to hold the top of the Mets’ lineup and bring the game into extras. But four straight singles later, the Mets walked it off and secured the series win. They now trail the Phillies by five games for the division with five head-to-head matchups remaining.
It was an ugly game all around. The defense was sloppy, the umpires stunk, both teams’ bullpens blew leads, yet it was an expected outcome at Citi Field for the Phillies. They have now lost nine straight games — seven of them due to blown leads — and 23 of their last 29 when visiting the house of horrors that resides in Queens.
Taijuan Walker will have the ball and a chance to avoid the sweep tomorrow, and the Mets will have their new call-up, Nolan McLean, who has posted a 1.46 ERA in two starts this season, pitching for the sweep.
Sean Regenye
Sean Regenye is a sophomore broadcast journalism major at Penn State University. He is a die-hard Philly sports fan and loves baseball, especially the Phillies.
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