Categories: 2021 Postgame Recaps

Phillies drop rubber match to Brewers, fail to gain ground in NL East race

Final score: Brewers 4, Phillies 3

Things were looking great for the Philadelphia Phillies following their 12-0 thrashing of the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. It would be their last series of the regular season against a truly formidable opponent, but hey, why not grab a series victory on the way out?

Bryce Harper homered in Wednesday’s game. (Photo by Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire)

But things went south on Tuesday, and they continued in that direction on Wednesday. The Phillies lost 4-3 to drop the once-promising series and miss an opportunity to make up ground on the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, who lost Wednesday as well.

Like the series it belonged to, Wednesday’s game was also promising early for the Phillies. Bryce Harper lined his 29th home run of the season in the first inning, a 107.2 mph shot that just had the height to bounce off the top of the right field wall and put the Phillies up one.

But Kyle Gibson couldn’t make the lead hold. His first two innings were rife with cardinal sins of baseball: Three walks in the first and a leadoff hit by the opposing pitcher in the second ultimately contributed to three Milwaukee runs.

It could’ve been more than three. Gibson, to his credit, battled to limit the damage, and the Phillies rewarded his efforts with some gnashing and gnawing of their own. Shoddy defense certainly played a role, but the Phillies were able to manufacture a pair of runs to tie the game at three.

That 3-3 score held until the bottom of the sixth. Then Connor Brogdon left a fastball up. Eduardo Escobar hit it to the second deck, giving the Brewers a 4-3 lead.

The Phillies had a few chances in the last couple innings. They put runners on first and second with two outs for J.T. Realmuto in the eighth inning, but the Phillies’ backstop struck out swinging. Sam Coonrod fired a high-octane bottom of the inning (he hit 101 mph three times en route to striking out the side) to keep his team down one entering the ninth.

But they would remain down one. Didi Gregorius worked a leadoff walk against Josh Hader, but Travis Jankowski grounded into a double play immediately after. After a Ronald Torreyes walk, Urías made up for his previous defensive mistake with a sprawling grab on an Andrew McCutchen liner to end it.

It capped off a rather unflattering day, hours after news emerged that Zach Eflin would miss six to eight months after undergoing right knee surgery. The Phillies are still 2 1/2 games back of the Braves and will likely finish the day three games back of San Diego for the second Wild Card.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

Kyle Gibson: 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO, 103 pitches

The glaring number from Gibson’s line is the walks: He allowed three in the first inning, eventually scoring two runs in the frame. He would also probably like to have the first at-bat of the third inning back, as a leadoff single by Peralta set the Brewers up to tack on another run. That was all the scoring they’d accomplish against the righty, and those first two innings could have been worse: He worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first and a first-and-third, one-out hole in the second, keeping the Phillies in the game. Still, he’s allowed 11 earned runs across 10 innings in his last two starts, hiking the ERA to 3.38.

Freddy Peralta: 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 81 pitches

Peralta’s biggest problem on Wednesday was his inability to put hitters away. Harper’s solo home run in the first came on a 3-2 count after Harper was down 1-2. Herrera’s single to load the bases with no outs in the third came after five two-strike foul balls. And Peralta had Harper in an 0-2 hole before walking him on seven pitches to force in the Phillies’ second run. His line would’ve looked different if Urías had squeezed a simple Omar Narváez throw to second on a Gibson bunt, but it also would’ve looked different if Miller’s 105.4 mph liner in the second didn’t yield a double play. Peralta’s ERA dropped from 2.70 all the way down to 2.69.

Phillies Nugget Of The Game

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