Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

Phillies offense falls flat in ugly loss to Rockies

Kyle Schwarber was one of four players called for a pitch clock violation in the Phillies’ loss to the Rockies on Thursday. (Don Otto)

Final Score: Rockies 5, Phillies 0

It’s tough to lose games when your supposed No. 5 starter and a largely unavailable bullpen strike out 15 batters against a team on an eight-game losing streak — but that’s what the Philadelphia Phillies did on Thursday, dropping Game 1 of a four-game home set to the Colorado Rockies.

C.J. Cron, who has been floated as a possible acquisition for a Phillies team with a first-base need, got the Rockies out to an early lead in the top of the first. Colorado also got some help from home plate umpire Brian Knight on a walk to leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar.

From there, Strahm cruised, and dominated. He punched out 11 batters in just 5 1/3 innings of work, allowing just two hits after Cron’s homer.

Strahm exited with the Phillies down two, but by the time the sixth inning ended, the deficit had doubled. With Andrew Bellatti on the mound (again), Jake Cave almost nabbed Ryan McMahon at the plate from left field on a single. But the initial out call was overturned upon video replay, which showed McMahon got his foot down on the plate before the tag.

Then, Bellatti — whose diminishing effectiveness in the past week-and-a-half feels at least partially tied to his workload — walked two straight batters to load the bases and force in a run.

The Phillies had a chance to eat away at that deficit, or perhaps erase it entirely, in the bottom half of the sixth. They loaded the bases with two outs for Alec Bohm, but a hitter’s pitch clock violation before stepping into the box for the first pitch — the second time it happened to a Phillie on Thursday (Kyle Schwarber in the first) — put Bohm in a 0-1 hole before an eventual strikeout.

Another strike one hurt the Phillies in the eighth, but this time, it wasn’t self-inflicted. With two on and two outs for J.T. Realmuto, Knight called Strike 1 on an 0-0 sweeper well below the zone; Realmuto eventually struck out to end that threat as well.

The Rockies got another insurance run in the ninth against Luis Ortiz. The Phillies put the tying run in the hole (for what it’s worth) in the home half, but Pierce Johnson struck out Trea Turner to close the shutout victory for Colorado, snapping their skid and moving the Phillies to 8-12.

Shibe Vintage Sports Notes

Bohm and Schwarber only composed half of the pitch clock violations in Philadelphia on Thursday. Connor Brogdon struck out Profar on a full-count violation to lead off the seventh, and Rockies starter Ryan Feltner was dinged as well.
Speaking of Feltner, he entered play with an 8.78 ERA on the season. You wouldn’t know by the way he pitched on Thursday: three hits across 5 2/3 shutout innings.
Strahm has struck out 17 batters in his last two starts, totaling eight innings of work. Thursday’s 11 set a career high. The strikeout totals certainly bode well for Strahm’s eventual return to the bullpen, whenever that might be.
Bellatti threw 33 pitches on Thursday. It is already the third time he’s thrown at least 30 pitches in a game this season. He’s now appeared in 10 of the Phillies’ 20 games.

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