Categories: 2024 Postgame Recaps

Phillies’ early lead slips in ugly fashion, late rally squandered in opener loss to Angels

Alec Bohm had a big hit early but couldn’t come through late against the Angels. (Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire)

Final score: Angels 6, Phillies 5

ANAHEIM — It was too good a script. The Phillies had two men in scoring position with one out in the ninth, a single away from tying it. First chance: Alec Bohm, the NL Player of the Week who’s built the best start to a season of his career largely on the strength of hitting with runners in scoring position. Second chance: Brandon Marsh, returning to Anaheim for the first time as a visitor since he was traded to the Phillies in 2022.

But whether the Angels play in Anaheim or Los Angeles, it certainly isn’t Hollywood. The drama, accordingly, ended there.

After the Angels whittled a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 early, the Phillies squandered a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning and fell behind in a disastrous seventh. Closer Carlos Estévez held on by the skin of his teeth to snap the Phillies’ four-game winning streak and hand them their first loss on the current west coast road trip.

Highlights

Fresh off his NL Player of the Week honor, Alec Bohm got yet another hit with runners in scoring position in the first inning. His two-run single followed a Kyle Schwarber single, Trea Turner hit by pitch and Bryce Harper walk, giving the Phillies an early lead.

Brandon Marsh, in his return to Angel Stadium for the first time since his trade two seasons ago, then drove Harper home with a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
Jo Adell got one right back in the home half with a solo shot off Cristopher Sánchez.
Ehire Adrianza drove in a run on an RBI single in the second, then got backpicked at first by Nick Castellanos and Harper.
The Phillies’ fourth run came in bizarre fashion: a disengagement violation on Griffin Canning in the fifth.

The Angels scored two in the sixth. Two straight singles off Sánchez, then two straight sacrifices (one bunt, one groundout) and an RBI knock against Orion Kerkering tied it at four apiece.
But the seventh is where the wheels really fell off. Seranthony Domínguez, who has struggled mightily this season, allowed two straight singles to begin the inning. After a groundout and a strikeout, this is how the Angels took the lead. Note the count:

The Phillies threatened in the ninth on one-out hits from Trea Turner (single) and Harper (double). But Bohm flew out and Marsh stuck out to end it.

Notes

Domínguez’s ERA is now a sky-high 9.58 this season.
Sánchez allowed four runs (all earned) on seven hits in five-plus innings. He walked two and struck out just one.