NEW YORK — Once again, the Phillies had a chance to turn the game around in the sixth inning. They capitalized in Game 2 and it led to one of the most exciting wins in Phillies postseason history. They failed in Game 3, and now they face elimination after a 7-2 loss to the New York Mets.
The Phillies had only four base runners through five innings against Mets starter Sean Manaea. It wasn’t all bad. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos flew out to the warning track in their first two at-bats. All three outs in the first inning were hit at 106 mph.
Schwarber fell behind 0-2 and worked a walk. Manaea proceeded to throw four uncompetitive pitches to Trea Turner for another walk.
Harper missed a changeup inside the strike zone. The second pitch, a sweeper just a little low and away, was also missed. Down in the hole 0-2, Citi Field came alive. Harper is a heel everywhere he goes and nothing satisfies opposing fans quite like seeing a star like Harper fail.
Manaea went even further out of the zone to get Harper to chase strike three.
The game begged for another signature Bryce moment. It never came. Instead, Mets fans left Citi Field with their team one win away from the NLCS and chanting, “F*** Bryce Harper” all the way to the 7 train.
“He got us today. He beat us,” Harper said about Manaea. “We’ve had some situations. Me personally. Didn’t come through and didn’t let it happen.”
“I think that’s just the situation, when he’s trying to do too much,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Trying to put the club on his shoulders. And again, it’s about passing the baton and relying on your teammates.”
Philadelphia still had a chance to get on the board with two on and one out, but the strikeout gave some momentum back to Manaea. With Castellanos in an 0-2 hole, Manaea was able to get him to bite on a changeup outside that was hit hard, but landed in the glove of second baseman Jose Iglesias. Schwarber was instantly doubled up to end the threat.
“He gave me a good changeup away and I stayed on it,” Castellanos said. “I barreled it. A little bit to the left, a little bit to the right, first and third. Run scores. First and third. However it is, it’s a different situation.”
“Even if I do just freeze, I’m still going to be out,” Schwarber said.
It all began to unravel for the Phillies after the top of the sixth. Aaron Nola, who up to that point threw only two mistake pitches that were crushed out of the ballpark by Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker, loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Orion Kerkering was then summoned with the impossible task of cleaning up a bases loaded and no out mess. He nearly got out of it by getting an out at home with the infield in and a shallow flyout to left, but a sweeper caught too much of the outside and Starling Marte was able to drive in two on a single.
In the seventh, José Alvarado recorded the first two outs, but lost all command and left with the bases loaded. Jose Ruiz allowed two of those runners to score on an Iglesias two-run single. Carlos Estevez, in to keep the game at four after the Phillies scored two in the bottom of the eighth, misplayed a ground ball and allowed another run to score on a double by Francisco Lindor. The extra run allowed the Mets to sit tired closer Edwin Diaz, which could greatly benefit the Mets heading into Game 4.
It was a game lost on the margins. Should Thomson have had someone warming in the top of the sixth when Nola was struggling? Why was Kerkering and not Estevez or Jeff Hoffman the one called upon to follow Nola? And why was José Alvarado, who has not thrown in a game since Sept 29, pitching in a four-run game against a pocket of right-handed hitters? Better yet, why was Ruiz and not Hoffman the one summoned to face Lindor?
“I don’t think we’re executing pitches, to tell you the truth,” Thomson said. “I thought Alvarado was good until he got hit in the foot. He said it didn’t bother him, but who knows.”
Through three games, the Phillies bullpen has allowed 12 earned runs.
It’s hard not to be stunned. A great season, 95 wins, a division title and another shot at a championship, could be gone by the end of tomorrow.
“Our goal is to find a way to make sure that we can get back to Philadelphia,” Schwarber said.
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