The final game of a lengthy road trip is always a tricky proposition. Having already secured a winning record on their nine-game western swing, it was easy to envision the Phillies going through the motions in anticipation of boarding their flight back to Philadelphia.
Sure enough, the offense was silent against a bullpen game by the Diamondbacks. But it almost didn’t matter because rookie starting pitcher Andrew Painter delivered a gem, pitching seven shutout innings. Unfortunately, one mistake by reliever
Jonathan Bowlan was enough to send the Phillies to a 1-0 loss.
Since his return from the minors, the first inning has given Painter some trouble. But after allowing a single to start the game, Painter got the next three hitters in the frame out…and pretty much just about every other hitter he faced after that.
From the second to the sixth, the Diamondbacks had one runner reach base, and that came via Bryson Stott error in the fourth. The Diamondbacks finally recorded their second hit of the game with one out in the seventh, but Painter rebounded to get the next two batters to finish his day.
Painter’s performance was perhaps more impressive because his offense did absolutely nothing at the plate. Facing an array of relief pitchers, they managed just three hits on the day – two of them by Bryan De La Cruz, who was the only player to get as far as second base. Bryce Harper had the other hit and walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 35, but the rest of the team had a collective 0-fer at the plate.
The Diamondbacks must have been ecstatic to see Painter leave the game. Jonathan Bowlan came in for the eighth and was greeted warmly by James McCann.
And that was that.
It was a disappointing if not unexpected end to an otherwise successful road trip. They’ll fly home and have an off day on Thursday before starting a four-game series against the Braves that may very well decide which team wins the National League East. Painter won’t pitch in that series, but hopefully his veteran rotation mates can duplicate his effort.
