Darkness, again — Phillies fall 4-1 in Game 4, ending season

In the Phillies’ final 98 games of the season, they went 50-48.

They walked a tightrope all second half, all series, and all Wednesday night. The offense, the pitching, and the managing. Francisco Lindor made them pay.

His grand slam in the bottom of the sixth inning put the Mets up 4-1. The score did not change, sending the Phillies home. From Red to Dead October.

It is darkness at the end of the tunnel for the Phillies, again. They get sent home early with an offseason that will feel longer than the last two. It will feature questions and changes. But will they be answered?

The 2022-24 Phillies continued the 2009-11 expiration, getting eliminated one round earlier each season.

Their bats came up with nothing, again. They chased, they whiffed, and they wasted opportunities. In a do-or-die game at Citi Field, the Phillies scored one run on four hits. This team has now lost three straight elimination games and five of their last six playoff games. They have scored two or fewer runs in five of their last six playoff games, with four of them at Citizens Bank Park. This dates back to Game 6 of the 2023 NLCS against the Diamondbacks.

This time, they fell to the New York Mets. A team whose season was declared over in April by their fanbase, and turned it around thanks to the power of pumpkins, OMG, and Grimace. They are going to their first NLCS since 2015.

Meanwhile, the Phillies face darkness. Again.

The game turned when Jeff Hoffman went back out for the sixth inning after ending the fifth with an out. He loaded the bases with a single, a walk, and a hit batsman. Hoffman spiked two wild pitches in the middle of all that. His velocity was low and had zero command. Most of this descent from the Phils has not stood on Rob Thomson’s guilt, but Hoffman was left in far too long. Carlos Estevez came on for Hoffman and threw him a cookie.

Darkness. Again.

The grand slam from Lindor spoiled another great outing from the Phillies’ starting pitcher. Ranger Suarez, who has struggled mightily since July, threw a gutsy, 4 1/3 scoreless innings, where he loaded the bases multiple times and danced his way out of it.

Suarez shows up in October. His career postseason ERA is now 1.45. The offense and bullpen, however, not so much.

The Phillies were 4-for-31 Wednesday night and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They left nine runners on base. In this series, they hit .186. They were outscored 17-5 in the three losses. The Phils scored one run through nine innings in Game 4, zero runs through seven innings in Game 3, zero runs through five innings in Game 2, and one run through eight innings in Game 1.

The bullpen suffered 16 earned runs in 13.2 innings, featuring a 12.34 ERA.

Darkness. Again.

With a run scored earlier in the inning, the Phillies had runners on the corners in the fourth with one out and could not bring any more runners in. That came back to bite them.

Bryce Harper led off the sixth inning with a double and did not reach third. That came back to bite them.

They threatened again in the ninth where Edwin Diaz could not locate to save his life and walked the first two batters before the next three ended the Phillies’ season.

The offense fell flat, again. It is the same way collapsed a win shy of their second straight pennant in 2023 and of the franchise’s third World Series title in 2022.

“As a group, this is the closest to death we’re ever going to get,” Nick Castellanos said Tuesday night after their Game 3 loss. “So in a way, we should feel the most alive.”

They were not alive.

There is more darkness in October in Philadelphia.

Another season of nothing.

John Middleton wanted his trophy back.

He will not get it.

Darkness. Again.

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