Phillies Lose Again. Rinse. Repeat.
By Matt Veasey
1. 6. 3. 8. Final
The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday afternoon, giving Arizona a sweep of this four game series at Citizens Bank Park.
By dropping Monday’s game by a 3-1 score, the Phillies were not only swept by the Dbacks, but also completed their worst homestand in over a half century. The Phils had not been swept in a homestand of at least six games since 1964.
There is a simple answer for why these 2016 Phillies cannot win games: they cannot score runs. This is an offensive talent issue. The Fadin’ Phils simply don’t have much in the way of bats.
The 220 runs scored by the Phillies is the worst figure in Major League Baseball. Outside of the similarly putrid division rival Atlanta Braves, who have scored a dozen more, there is no one even close to that level of futility.
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It has gotten so bad that even manager Pete Mackanin, a level-headed, pragmatic sort, is becoming delusional about their talents and abilities.
“These guys, they can do some things. We proved that in the first two months of the season,” said the skipper in his postgame presser.
First, the Phillies didn’t do anything over two months. They had a hot five-week stretch over which they went 22-12. But even in that stretch, the team wasn’t hitting much. They were barely scratching out numerous one-run wins thanks to excellent starting pitching and a hot bullpen.
Mackanin certainly cannot just throw in the towel, he has to try to maintain his professional demeanor and his competitiveness, and try to draw the best out of the hand which he has been dealt.
However, behind the scenes and off-camera in the quiet of his office, the skipper knows the truth. This team just isn’t very good as currently constructed. The 8-25 of the last month is much closer to the true talent level than was the former, winning five-week stretch.
Today, the Phillies again scored just one run. It was their third consecutive game with only a single score on the board, and the club scored a total of nine runs over the six game homestand.
It was just a handful of years ago that this franchise boasted the most potent attack in its history. So close, but so far.
Today it was Shelby Miller, fresh off the disabled list for Arizona, who shut them down. Miller (2-6) allowed just the one earned run while scattering five hits over 6.2 innings, striking out five and walking just one batter.
On the Phillies side, Jeremy Hellickson started off shaky, yielding three first inning runs. Hellickson (4-6) allowed hits to the first four batters of the day, three of those going for extra-bases, including Jake Lamb‘s 14th of the season.
The Phils got one back against Miller in the 2nd when Andres Blanco led off with a double, and then came around to score on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Tyler Goeddel.
That’s it, all the scoring on a scorching hot first day of summer down in South Philly. Hector Neris provided a late highlight, coming on to pitch two innings of one-hit relief over which he struck out four and walked no one.
The Phillies will now head out on a nine game road trip that will swing them up to Minnesota for a three game Interleague series, and then out west to San Francisco and Arizona for a rematch with the Snakes beginning a week from now. The Dbacks and their fans can hardly wait.