Poor fielding continues to plague the Philadelphia Phillies as they lose 9-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers

Apr 9, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez (27) celebrates hitting a home run with right fielder Ryan Braun (8) during the fourth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The home portion of the Phillies’ schedule has not started off especially well as they dropped their second straight game to the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 9-4. Once again, poor fielding and a shaky bullpen were the main culprits.

The game was closer than the final score would indicate; it was a 4-4 game heading into the 8th inning. However, relievers Antonio Bastardo and Justin De Fratus had poor outings and allowed the Brewers to establish a sizeable lead in the final two innings.

The pitching staff was not helped out much by the defense. The Brewers scored an unearned run in the first thanks to an error by Jimmy Rollins. A Ryan Howard error in the eighth led to another run.

The Brewers hurt their cause with some shaky fielding of their own. An error by second baseman Scooter Gennett allowed the Phillies to score two unearned runs in the first inning, and a wild pitch by Matt Garza contributed towards a Phillies run in the fifth.

Ryan Braun continued his assault on Phillies pitching with a two-run triple, and Carlos Gomez added three hits of his own. Mark Reynolds provided some insurance for the Brewers with a ninth inning home run.

While the Phillies’ offense has probably been the least of their problems, they could certainly use Chase Utley back in the lineup. The second baseman missed his second straight game with the flu.

The Phillies will try to halt their three game losing streak on Thursday. The good news is that they have Cliff Lee on the mound. The bad news is that if they don’t shore up their defense – which has been awful thus far this season – it might not matter who is pitching.