Phillies believe turnaround is coming soon after nightmare homestand: ‘It’s inevitable’
PHILADELPHIA — What should have been an opportunity to stack wins turned into a rough nine-game stretch for the Phillies, who have been swept by the Braves at home at Citizens Bank Park to fall 6.5 games back in the National League East.
Is the quest for three straight division titles over before it ever really began? The Phillies have more pressing questions to ask as the club sits five games under .500 after five consecutive losses and three runs total in three games against Atlanta.
A typically mild-mannered Rob Thomson showed some frustration postgame.
“It’s not that we don’t have talent, we’ve got talent,” Thomson said. “It just hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to happen.”
The Phillies got off to an early 2-0 lead on a first inning Kyle Schwarber two-run home run, but couldn’t add on in the 4-2 loss. They went an abysmal 2-7 on the homestand. Somehow, they are just 6-5 this season in games in which they score the first run. Last season, the Phillies finished 40 games over .500 at 64-24 in games where they scored first.
Heading on the road could be an opportunity for the Phillies to get back on track, but they will have to do so against two teams they went a combined 1-5 against this week in the Cubs and Braves.
“We’re disappointed, we’re frustrated,” Thomson said. “I know they are trying hard, sometimes trying too hard. I think guys are upset, we’re off to a slow start here, but it’s going to get better.”
Andrew Painter pitched well through four innings, but the Braves were able to keep his pitch count high. He navigated traffic and thanks to a well-timed challenge from catcher Rafael Marchan with two strikes and two on in the second inning, was able to avoid the big inning. Marchan, starting in place of J.T. Realmuto, will likely play again on Monday against the Cubs. J.T. Realmuto missed Sunday’s game with lower back soreness. They could make a call on a potential 10-day IL stint on Monday.
Painter opened the fifth inning with back-to-back base hits allowed to left-handed hitter Michael Harris II and leadoff man Ronald Acuña Jr. Thomson went to the lefty ground ball specialist Tim Mayza against the two big lefties in the Atlanta order, Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson. Mayza walked Baldwin and the Phillies couldn’t turn a double play against Olson. An infield single from Austin Riley gave the Braves the lead and a double from Ozzie Albies made it 4-2.
After the first two batters of the game came around to score, the Phillies registered only four hits through the remaining eight innings. They had the go-ahead run at the plate in Schwarber with two outs in the ninth. Schwarber nearly had a game-tying double, but Acuña reached out to make an impressive running catch near the wall for the final out. Had Acuña not made the play, the Phillies may have tied it with the speedy Justin Crawford at first base representing the tying run.
Schwarber slammed his helmet as the ball landed in Acuña’s glove.
“You can only kind of grin at it too, right? It is what it is,” Schwarber said. “Everyone in the dugout, everyone in the locker room, we’re all putting in the work, we’re all doing what we need to do. We want to keep getting better. Results, chasing the results, chasing hits, chasing all of that, that’s not the way to go about it.”
Schwarber is typically the one to deliver the message in tough times. The rest of his teammates silently packed their belongings for a week away.
The Phillies are in a hole, but there is still time to dig out of it.
“It’s inevitable. At some point, it’s gonna change,” Schwarber said. “The want is there. The desire is there. The will. And we all believe. We all believe in ourselves at the end of the day. There’s no doubt in that. Just take it on the chin and keep moving.”