Phillies fall, 3-1, to New York Yankees for fourth straight loss
Nine days before the trade deadline, the discussions continued at the executive level of Citizens Bank Park about the Phillies‘most advisable strategy to improve the roster.
The debate surely got more robust Saturday night.
Go ahead and take your pick of the Phillies’ most pressing need: a back-end starting pitcher, a right-handed bat, another late-inning reliever. The answer is there aren’t any wrong answers. Not after each shortcoming was exposed again in a 3-1 loss to the Yankees.
In losing their fourth consecutive game — and falling to 2-6 since returning from the All-Star break (slumber?) — the Phillies were silenced again by a left-handed starter. They lost their 11th game in a row from the No. 5 starter spot. And struggling lefty Jose Alvarado gave up a late home run.
Oh, and for good measure, they backed the statistical evidence that they’re the worst defensive team in baseball with two errors from third baseman Alec Bohm and a pivotal two-out pop fly to shallow left field that went through shortstop Trea Turner‘s hands.
“I tried getting there as best I could,” said Turner, who couldn’t come up with a back-to-the-infield basket catch that preceded Cody Bellinger’s go-ahead single. “It’s just kind of an awkward angle. You don’t want to overrun it or start judging it when it’s kind of behind you. But, yeah, I thought I had a shot. Just couldn’t come up with it.”
Once the Phillies fell behind, they couldn’t come back. They managed only seven hits, six against Yankees lefty starter Ryan Weathers despite loading the lineup with right-handed bats.
(Side note: The Phillies are tied for last in the majors with a .278 on-base percentage from their right-handed hitters.)
At 56-49, the Phillies remain in position for the second National League wild card. But they have the look of a team that needs the kick-start that an active trade deadline can provide.
Tick, tock, Dave Dombrowski.
“Yeah, it hasn’t been our best,” Turner said. “We know that we want to play better. I think it’s just kind of going back to what Donnie [Mattingly] said early on when he got the [managerial] job: ‘It’s just three hours of competing, and don’t let your foot off the gas.’
“I don’t think it’s a lack of effort, but I think we need to get that back a little bit.”
» READ MORE: It’s clear what the Phillies need at the trade deadline. Do they have the prospective capital to get it?
The Yankees took the lead in the sixth inning against the underbelly of the Phillies’ bullpen, which followed 32-year-old righty Brian Keller after three innings as a bulk pitcher in his major league debut. (More on Keller shortly.)
Mattingly called on lefty Kyle Backhus, just back from triple A, to face a left-handed pocket of the Yankees’ order. Backhus walked Austin Wells, then struck out Ryan McMahon and dangerous Ben Rice.
On came Seth Johnson for a righty-on-righty matchup with Paul Goldschmidt, who hit the bloop into shallow left field.
“When it went up, I thought it was going to be an out,” Mattingly said. “It was deeper than I thought. It’s a player making an over-the-shoulder catch, so it’s not a routine play or anything like that. I felt like Trea was there. But I think it’s a play Trea probably thinks he can make.”
The Phillies are now 5-21 from the No. 5 spot in the rotation. In their latest attempt to solve the fifth-starter riddle, they opened with lefty Tim Mayza for two innings before bringing in Keller.
It actually worked.
Well, kind of.
Mayza retired six batters in a row, then handed over a 1-0 lead. And although Keller gave up a game-tying two-out homer to Austin Wells, he acquired himself well by allowing just the one run on two hits in three innings.
Keller’s story is improbable. A former 39th-round pick (the draft is only 20 rounds now), he kicked around the Yankees’ farm system for most of seven years in the minors before going to Japan, where he made only three starts before blowing out his elbow. He had Tommy John surgery, missed two seasons, and hooked on with the depth-deprived Phillies on a minor league contract in May.
And now, this.
“It was amazing,” Keller said. “Dream comes true. You picture it over and over. You picture it going well; you picture it going poorly, unfortunately. But I’m glad it turned out all right. I was surprisingly calm out there. Yeah, just really happy.”
If only it ended as well for the Phillies, who haven’t won a series against team with a winning record at the time since June 22-25 in Washington. Their last winning series against a team currently in playoff position was June 5-7 against the White Sox.
At least they will have Christopher Sanchez on the mound Sunday night to try to avoid a sweep.
“When you hit a stretch where you’re not playing good, you’re running into some good teams and you’re not scoring, it makes it tough,” Mattingly said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t beat them, right? It just means we got to get going again.”
