Final Score: Nationals 13, Phillies 4
WASHINGTON — Phillies starter Kyle Gibson got the first two outs in the second inning. Then the next five batters crossed the plate and all of a sudden, the Phillies were down five runs to the worst team in baseball.
It got much worse than that.
It was a clunker. The Nationals snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Phillies with a 13-run outburst in game one of a scheduled doubleheader.
A doubleheader sweep would have went a long way in improving their playoff chances. Now they will do their best to avoid getting swept and hope to get some help from Miami.
Interim manager Rob Thomson said he does not sense panic in the room.
“They want to win games and they want to get in,” Thomson said. “That’s not panic, though. I don’t sense panic. I sense a group that really wants to get in the playoffs.”
Good thing the Phillies have only a couple hours to flush this performance. That’s if the rainfall doesn’t wash out the nightcap for a second night in a row. For what it’s worth, Thomson thinks conditions will be OK tonight. The same cannot be said for Sunday.
That’s been the Phillies experience in September. You can argue nobody has been more emblematic of the Phillies’ spectacular failures in the final month than Gibson. He finished September/October with a 9.73 ERA, which is more than a run higher than the second-worst pitcher with at least 20 innings pitched this month, JP Sears.
Gibson, his catchers and the coaching staff are still searching for answers as to why it has all gone south for him.
“No. I don’t think the pitching coaches can either,” Gibson said when asked if he can pinpoint his struggles to anything. “I’ve sat and talked with [Brian] Kaplan and Caleb [Cotham] and catchers and everybody. We talked about it. … Today was probably the least amount of execution I’ve had this last month, but it’s been a frustrating month.”
Gibson was not the lone Phillie at fault for the Nationals’ five-run inning. After giving up two consecutive singles to Riley Adams and Lane Thomas, CJ Adams ran out an infield single to load the bases. Then Joey Meneses, one of the hottest hitters in the game, hit a 78 mph liner that Alec Bohm completely missed. It was scored as double, but that could go down as Bohm’s most costly miscue of the season. Meneses would score on a home run from Luke Voit on a high hanging curveball.
Thomson opted to have Gibson eat innings and preserve the bullpen for the nightcap. He did throw one-two-three innings in the third and fourth , but gave up his 24th home run of the year to Meneses in the fifth.
The bullpen could not stop the onslaught of runs. Nick Nelson and Chris Devenski both gave up three runs to put the game completly out of reach. Nick Maton was summoned from the bench to get the final out.
The Phillies are now 84-73. Noah Syndergaard will take the mound for the Phillies in game two. He will be opposed by Tommy Romero.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- The Phillies are now tied for the second wild card spot with the Milwaukee Brewers. They could end tonight trailing by as many as one game or could be up by as many as one, depending on the results of Saturday’s Marlins/Brewers game.
- The Phillies executed a double steal to get on the board in the first. Harper ran halfway between first and second, stopped and Schwarber went home. A better throw from Luis Garcia would have gotten Schwarber. Thomson indicated that he did not put that play on. The Phillies skipper was asked if he was OK with the two veterans taking that kind of risk early in the game. “I mean, I trust them, but we’ll talk about it.”
- Thomson said after the game that Schwarber banged his knee after sliding home on a double steal in the first inning. He’s fine. He’ll be in the starting lineup for game two. J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos will get the night off.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, October 1 vs. Washington Nationals (Game Two)
- 7:05 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP
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