It was a big weekend for Philadelphia sports. The Sixers and Flyers began their first-round playoff series, while the Phillies hosted the first-place Braves for a three-game series. The Flyers came through with a hard fought 3-2 win on Saturday night. But the rest of the weekend did not go well for the city (that was one of the worst playoff performances I’ve ever seen by the Sixers), capped off by a 4-2 loss by the Phillies on Sunday night that looked similar to so many other losses this season.
The game actually started off well. Trea Turner led off with a single, and Kyle Schwarber hit a home run that reviews confirmed did clear the fence before hitting a fan.
When Bryce Harper followed with a walk, it looked like the Phillies might be in for one of those big offensive nights that they give us every so often. But that was not to be. The next three batters got out rather easily, setting the tone for the rest of the night.
Andrew Painter got the start for the Phillies and was generally okay. Unfortunately, with the way things are going for the Phillies, okay isn’t enough. He gave up a solo home run to Michael Harris in the third and then got out of a second-and-third, one out jam in the fourth.
But unless you’re facing the 2026 Phillies, if you keep putting baserunners on, eventually it’s going to cost you. Painter allowed consecutive singles to start the fifth, and manager Rob Thomson chose to pull him in favor of Tim Mayza.
The remainder of the inning was a great representation of how things have gone lately for the Phillies in that they were both bad and unlucky.
Mayza walked his first batter, and then Matt Olson hit a grounder to second that wasn’t hard enough for the Phillies to turn a double play. The Phillies got the out at second, but the Braves tied the game. Austin Riley followed with what was by my calculations, the 200th infield single against the Phillies in the last three weeks, to put the Braves in front 3-2.
Ozzie Albies then hit a ball to left field, and I’m still not sure what Brandon Marsh was trying to do out there, but he sure didn’t catch it. The result was a 4-2 Braves lead.
The Phillies had an opportunity to get back into the game in the bottom of the inning. With Turner on first base and two outs, Schwarber doubled into the corner (at least someone had a good game), but surprisingly, Turner had to hold up at third. Bryce Harper then followed up with a ball to third that he almost beat out, but beating out close plays isn’t what the Phillies do these days.
The Braves seemed like they wanted to let the Phillies back into the game. They couldn’t tack on against some of the lesser lights of the Phillies’ bullpen, and in the seventh, gave the Phillies two baserunners thanks to a walk and hit batter. But Bryson Stott meekly popped up and Rafael Marchan watched strike three to end the “threat.”
The Phillies dashed our hopes one last time in the ninth. A Stott double and Justin Crawford walk put the tying run on base for the top of the order. But as he so often does in clutch spots, Turner was overmatched by a fastball for a strike out, and then Schwarber hit a liner to right field that Ronald Acuna was somehow able to track down to end the game.
At least the Phillies won’t have long to stew in this ugliness. They’ll travel to Chicago to start a three-game series for the Cubs. Monday night’s game will be on at the same time as the Flyers, so the hope is that the hockey team can provide us with a little bit of distraction. I doubt a road trip will do much to improve their play, but it will at least provide a respite for all the fans who were subject to watching this ugliness this weekend.
