Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports
All the good mojo the Phillies had spent the better part of a week building up, disappeared in a flash on Sunday.
Shutting out Seattle a week ago, taking two-of-three from the Los Angeles Dodgers and winning the first game against Arizona on Thursday made it seem like the Phillies had put their summertime problems behind them.
But then an excruciating walk-off loss on Friday and a blowout loss on Saturday, set the stage for a road-trip defining, and season series determining battle with the Diamondbacks.
And the Phillies failed the test on just about every front.
Cristopher Sanchez wasn’t good. The bats didn’t show up until the game was out of hand. There were mistakes in the field. And the bullpen continued to look like a dinghy bailing water with two beach toy buckets.
The end result was a 12-5 loss to Arizona, the third in a row for the Phillies. They finished a brutal 10-game road trip 4-6 and have now lost 15-of-22 since the All-Star break.
Asked what the team needs to work on when it gets back to Philadelphia for a six-game homestand against Miami and Washington, Bryce Harper had one word:
“Everything,” he said.
That’s a mouthful.
“We’re not where we need to be playing right now,” he said. “We just got to get home, flush this game, flush this road trip, take the good things we can and just get going on Tuesday.”
Sanchez (8-8) allowed seven runs and 12 hits in just 4 2/3 innings. It was the most hits he’s ever allowed in any major league start. He also walked two batters. It was a far cry from where he was in his last start where he dominated the Dodgers.
“Really it was command,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I thought his stuff was O.K. … but he left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate.”
And the Diamondbacks seemed to hit every last one of them.
Arizona finished with 18 hits in the game, the second-most in franchise history for a nine-inning game.
“Not our best,” Harper said about the game and the entire road trip. “We just got to be better on both sides of the ball.”
The Phillies actually led the game early, thanks to a two-run double in the top of the first by Alec Bohm.
Sanchez gave one back in the bottom of the first, but the Diamondbacks took the lead in the bottom of the third when five out of six batters either singled or doubled off Sanchez and then a wild pitch that catcher J.T. Realmuto probably should have blocked allowed four runs to score and in a blink, it was 5-2 Arizona.
Sanchez got in further trouble in the fifth after a pair of two out singles – the latter of which was the result of Harper trying to field a ball he should have let go for second baseman Bryson Stott. Thomson lifted him from the game, but reliever Tanner Banks walked Geraldo Perdomo then gave up a bases-clearing triple to Jake McCarthy, which all but put the game out of reach.
Merrill Kelly (3-0), who made his first start since April 15, kept the Phillies hitters at bay, allowing just two runs and three hits through five innings.
A MINOR MOVE
The Phillies claimed RHP Kyle Tyler off waivers from the Miami Marlins on Sunday. He was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room for him on the 40-man roster, the Phillies waived RHP Nick Nelson.
Tyler, 27, made seven starts and one relief appearance for the Marlins this season. He was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 31 2/3 innings. He looked much better at Triple-A Jacksonville where he was 4-2 with a 3.06 ERA in 50 innings (nine starts, two relief appearances).
Tyler provides the Phillies with a depth upgrade for the starting pitching rotation.
Nelson, 28, who was the long man in the bullpen for the 2022 National League champion Phillies, has struggled since being stretched out to a starter starting in 2023. He both started and relieved this season, and it didn’t go well. He had a 7.52 ERA in 26 games with Lehigh Valley.
In other transaction news, both 1B Darick Hall and RHP Max Castillo cleared waivers and were sent back to Lehigh Valley.
UP NEXT
The Phillies will have one of just two off days in August on Monday and return to action on Tuesday night at home against Miami. RHP Taijuan Walker (3-3, 5.60 ERA) will make his first start for Philadelphia since June 21st. He missed seven weeks with right index finger inflammation. For him to return on Tuesday, the Phillies will have to make a corresponding roster move. It’s a good bet that RHP Yunior Marte will be the player sent back to Triple-A, especially after recent callup Max Lazar pitched well in a couple low-leverage innings over the weekend.
Miami has not announced a starter yet for Tuesday’s game, although it would be RHP Valente Bellozo (1-1, 3.05) who would be up next if they stuck with the same rotation as the last time through.
