Phillies doubleheader vs Mets: The 2018 season in two acts

In their doubleheader with the Mets, the Phillies managed to display everything good and bad about the 2018 season so far.

The Phillies opened up their series against the Mets with a single-admission doubleheader Thursday. It turned out to be one of the most eventful days of the season, starting off terribly but ending on a high note.

The first game of the doubleheader was just ugly through and through. Philadelphia’s defense has been atrocious all season, making mistakes all over the field. An error in the third led to one unearned run with another error and unearned run coming an inning later. It culminated in the fifth inning when a balk and two errors led to eight unearned runs and 10 runs total, putting the Phillies down 15-4.

If the game wasn’t ugly enough, Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery were forced to pitch the last three innings of the game. Gabe Kapler was forced into doing it because seven relievers were used Wednesday night against the Red Sox and they still had another game to play. It was the ugliest loss of the season, if not the last few seasons.

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When everything was said and done in Game One, the Phillies lost 24-4. The Mets set a franchise record for runs scored, while it was the largest margin of defeat for Philadelphia since 1929. Their 10 unearned runs allowed were the most in a single game by the Phils since 1923.

While the loss was utterly embarrassing, the team did what they have done all season long: bounce back. It’s what they did Wednesday after a tough loss Tuesday, and they did it again in Game Two.

It has been their best quality this season, allowing them to remain in the playoff hunt despite inconsistent performances.

Zach Eflin allowed a two-run double in the first, but Rhys Hoskins answered back with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning. Kingery homered in the second, becoming the first player to pitch and homer in a doubleheader since 1968. New acquisition Wilson Ramos delivered his fourth RBI in just two games here, and Cesar Hernandez stole home on a delayed steal to give the team six early runs.

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Eflin delivered a decent enough pitching performance the rest of the game, giving up two more runs in the seventh. The length of his outing mattered more than the quality, and it was enough to get the job done and get the win.

Seranthony Dominguez also continued to deliver, shutting down a late rally for the second night in a row. He picked up his 14th save of the season, getting two big strikeouts after allowing a hit to the first batter he faced.

In this doubleheader, we got to see everything good and bad about this season. We saw Philadelphia’s horrendous defense implode in the first game.

That coupled with Ranger Suarez’s rough outing led to an ugly loss for a team that has suffered plenty of ugly losses this season. On the other hand, when the offense steps up and the team gets decent enough pitching, they can forget about the ugly losses almost instantly.

The Phillies easily could have laid down and died after the horrendous first game, but they turned things right back around and have momentum on their side again.