The demons that have haunted the Phillies during this 6-23 stretch at Citi Field over the last three years show no signs of relenting.
That much was clear after last night’s crushing 6-5, walk-off loss to the Mets, their ninth-straight defeat (counting last season’s NLDS) in New York. It appeared newly acquired outfielder Harrison Bader, who participated in the destruction of the Phils’ souls as a member of the Metropolitans last year, had taken a big step towards killing the curse with his game-tying,
two-run home run off Ryan Helsley in the 8th inning.
Nope.
There were a number of factors for last night’s defeat. Jesus Luzardo losing composure and command in the Mets’ five-run fifth, started with a hit-by-pitch to the No. 9 hitter. Orion Kerkering’s continued inability to prevent inherited runners from scoring when called upon. Another quiet night from Kyle Schwarber, who is slumping at the worst possible time, and an inability for the rest of the lineup to hit with runners in scoring position, now 3-for-19 (.158 average) with runners in scoring position.
Last night, all the frustrations of these past 29 games at Citi Field came to a head in the fateful ninth inning. Everything you needed to know about where these teams are and what’s been happening during this stretch was encapsulated nicely in that final frame.
One team’s closer made the pitches. One team’s offense scorched the baseball.
One team’s closer didn’t make the pitches. One team’s offense failed to make contact.
Ballgame.
Let’s start with the top of the ninth. With the game tied 5-5, the Phils faced closer Edwin Diaz in his second inning of work. They had the top of the lineup — Schwarber, Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto due up. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the batting order, exactly the guys you want. In Schwarber and Harper, they had their two best left-handed hitters going against the right-handed Diaz, who is no stranger to this team.
This was the moment that screamed for a clutch moment from their two best players. They know what Diaz has and what he was going to do. And still, they couldn’t do anything.
Schwarber entered his plate appearance 0-11 in his career against Diaz with nine strikeouts. It’s a difficult line to figure out, given that Schwarber is a great fastball hitter and Diaz is a right-handed reliever who likes to challenge hitters. Schwarber was asked about it at the All Star Game by SNY.
Last night, Schwarber was once again overmatched, missing hittable fastballs across the middle of the plate yet again.
After destroying a baseball 50 feet foul and nearly out of the stadium for strike one, Diaz challenged Schwarber with a 98 mph fastball right down the middle of the plate. Schwarber swung through it for strike two.
Showing no fear, Diaz challenged Schwarber again with two strikes, this time throwing a slightly more elevated fastball again near the heart of the plate, 98 mph, right on by Schwarber for strike three.
0-for-12, 10 strikeouts.
Up next was Harper, who fouled off a pitch for his first strike and watched a second strike, a breaking ball that nestled securely inside the zone up and away, for strike two.
Harper’s two-run single got the Phillies on the board in the fifth and, without his “rivalry pack” on, piled up a three-hit night coming into his final at-bat. But Diaz threw him an 89 mph off-speed pitch over the heart of the plate that Harper swung through for strike three.
Finally, Realmuto, who was red-hot coming into this series but had yet to make an impact through the first two games, came to the dish.
Diaz threw a perfect 98 mph fastball on the inside corner on the first pitch, sawing off Realmuto, who weakly grounded to second base for the final out of the inning.
Diaz executed, threw strikes, and got a lot of swing and miss from the Phillies’ best hitters, reminiscent of virtually every other time the team has faced him during this awful stretch.
Now, it was Jhoan Duran’s turn against the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the Mets’ lineup. They were all over everything Duran had to offer.
Starling Marte was first.
After swinging through a first pitch splinker down in the zone, Duran threw another one in the exact same spot. Marte made solid contact this time, smashing a ground ball single up the middle.
Pete Alonso, who slugged a go-ahead two-run double in the Mets’ five-run fifth, came to the plate with three hits already on the evening.
Mets hitters have been first-pitch swinging throughout this series, a trend the Phillies have yet to exploit. Duran threw a 97 mph splinker right down the middle, and Alonso rifled a single past Trea Turner into left field.
Both Marte’s and Alonso’s hits left the bat at more than 100 mph.
Bret Baty, hitting for Mark Vientos, came to the plate. Duran fell behind 3-1 in the count but worked it full, throwing nothing but 100+ mph heaters. That’s when Duran and the Phils suffered from some actual bad luck.
Unlike Diaz’ inside fastball that resulted in a weakly hit, jam-shot grounder by Realmuto, Duran threw a beautiful, 102 mph fastball on the inside corner to Baty. Baty, however, fought it off and dropped it into left field just in front of a charging Brandon Marsh for a hit. If Baty had thrown the ball in there, he couldn’t have placed it any better.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, the ending was inevitable. Bringing the infield in, Duran faced Brandon Nimmo.
Duran fell behind 2-0 and had to come over the plate with a fastball in order to avoid going to a 3-0 count. He did, and Nimmo, unlike Schwarber and Harper, was all over it, smashing a line drive single to left to end the game.
On the NBC broadcast, John Kruk openly wondered before the final pitch whether Turner should have been in the hole rather than up the middle with the infield in, given how hard Duran throws. Had he been over a few steps, he would have caught Baty’s line drive. Does that mean the Phillies keep the Mets off the board in the 9th?
Maybe, maybe not. But it’s a fair criticism of Rob Thomson’s defensive alignment in that moment.
The 9th inning wasn’t the sole reason the Phillies lost last night, but it served as a microcosm of all the things that have gone wrong during this nightmarish stretch.
The Phillies’ best hitters had a chance to win the game against the Mets’ closer. They were given pitches to hit, and they swung through them. You can’t get any batted ball luck if you don’t make contact. In this biggest of moments, the Phils stars couldn’t come through against the Mets. It’s not the first time. Diaz also made quality pitches, didn’t fall behind in the count, and forced the Phillies to swing defensively.
The Mets’ best hitters had a chance to win the game against the Phils’ closer. They were given pitches to hit, and they hit them like they knew what was coming, a running them throughout the first two games. The Mets are 16-for-29 with RISP (.552 AVG). They didn’t try to crush home runs, they simply smoked the ball where it was pitched.
In the biggest of moments, the Mets’ stars came through against the Phillies. Duran didn’t make nearly as many quality pitches as Diaz, especially in the Marte and Alonso at-bats, putting him in a position where Baty’s hard-luck single made the situation untenable.
And thus, the exorcism of the Citi Field demons must wait for one more evening at least.
