Categories: 2024 Postgame Recaps

Jeff Hoffman, Phillies collapse against Mariners; lose another series

Jeff Hoffman and the Phillies struggled Saturday. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Mariners 6, Phillies 5 (10 innings)

Whether it was Jeff Hoffman’s worst performance of the season, Bryson Stott inexplicably firing what should have been a double-play ball in the bottom of the eighth inning into the dugout or an 0-for-5 night from J.T. Realmuto, you had a feeling what way Saturday night’s Philadelphia Phillies game was going once they coughed up a 5-0 lead against the Seattle Mariners.

The Phillies have a ton of more pressing issues right now, but home plate umpire Ryan Wills struggled mightily behind the plate Saturday, particularly late in the game. He rung up Bryce Harper under questionable circumstances in the top of the ninth inning, and missed what clearly was a strike three thrown by Carlos Estévez in the bottom of the 10th inning, which would have sent the game to the 11th. Instead, three pitches later, Estévez, in his second inning of work, walked Mitch Haniger, forcing in the winning run.

No one is suggesting umpires are to blame for the Phillies being 3-11 since the All-Star Break. But objectively, Saturday’s game should have gone at least another inning.

Ultimately, though, it never should have been in extras, and the Phillies left themselves susceptible to an overmatched umpire deciding the outcome.

This marks the fifth consecutive series that the Phillies have lost, with the Mariners joining the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees as those who have taken at least two of three from the Phillies recently.

The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler to the mound Sunday afternoon, looking to avoid a second consecutive sweep. Phillies hitters will have their work cut out, though, with Logan Gilbert — who leads all starterss with a 0.896 WHIP — taking the hill for the M’s.

Highlights

Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a single, which Trea Turner followed up with a double. However, the Phillies were only able to turn it into one run, with Alec Bohm getting the Phillies on the board with a one-out groundout that scored Schwarber.

Bryce Harper did have a 12-pitch at-bat that ended in a double in the top of the fourth inning. While he fouled off some pitches that he normally crushes, it was still encouraging for the Phillies given that he entered the game hitting .107 since the All-Star Game. However, Harper and Brandon Marsh were ultimately stranded in scoring position on a groundout by Nick Castellanos.

Bohm extended the Phillies lead with a two-run single with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning. Harper had previously flown out off of lefty Tayler Saucedo with the bases juiced, in what wasn’t a particularly inspiring at-bat.

After Bohm stole second without a throw, Marsh singled into right field, bringing home two more runs.

Seattle’s Mitch Haniger teed off on Allard for a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, getting the Mariners on the board:

Jeff Hoffman came on to face the big bats in Seattle’s lineup in the bottom of the sixth inning, and it didn’t go well. Jorge Polanco, Luke Raley and Josh Rojas each drove in runs off of him. Hoffman was charged with four earned runs, after previously having allowed only five earned runs across his first 46 appearances of the season:

With Edmundo Sosa the zombie runner to start the top of the 10th inning, Marsh drew a walk. However, both J.T. Realmuto and Castellanos struck out on pitches well out of the zone by Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz. Bryson Stott then flew out to shallow left field to end the top of the frame.

As noted above, Estévez ran out of gas late in his second inning of work. Granted, he would have gotten out of it, if not for a missed strike three call. But he lost the feel on his slider completely, and then fired a 96 mph fastball out of the zone to force in the winning run.