Will the Philadelphia Phillies break this MLB record?

The Phillies blew two saves in one game again on Wednesday

On Wednesday night, the Phillies blew their 31st and 32nd saves of the season.

They have led MLB in this embarrassing metric for most of the season, and just last week, they set a new franchise record with their 30th blown save of the year.

To put that number in context, the great Mariano Rivera, MLB’s all-time saves leader, blew 80 saves in his entire 19-year career. All-time blown saves leader Goose Gossage blew 112 saves in his 22-year career.

Hector Neris has already tied the franchise record for most career blown saves, though he has largely stabilized his pitching after a hectic June and July.

Of course, the Phillies have collectively blown these saves; it’s truly a team effort. On Wednesday, Jose Alvarado blew save #31 in the eighth inning, but J.T. Realmuto’s solo shot gave them back the lead in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the ninth, Ian Kennedy gave up a home run to Matt Duffy for blown save #32.

Kennedy has now blown saves in two of his last three appearances. While fellow trade piece Kyle Gibson has been a stabilizing force in the Phillies rotation, Kennedy has collapsed since being sent here from Texas. He had a 2.51 ERA over 32 games with Texas; he has a 6.32 ERA in 16 games with Philadelphia. He’s allowed more earned runs and home runs since the trade in half the appearances.

Will the Phillies tie the all-time blown saves record?

Wednesday’s game was the Phillies’ fifth of the season in which they blew two saves.

The Phillies ultimately won the game in the most Phillies way possible, on a walk-off passed ball. However, as Ryan Spaeder notes, the Phillies have led in 109 of their 145 games this season, but have a 73-72 record. He takes it one step further, calculating that they are 101-104 dating back to 2020, with a lead in 158 of 205 games played.

If they had a somewhat functional bullpen, the Phillies would stand firmly atop the division, on their way to their first postseason appearance in a decade. Instead, they’re in danger of matching an all-time record; the 2004 Colorado Rockies currently own MLB’s single-season record with 34 blown saves in a single season.

Unfortunately, at this point, it’s not a question of if the Phillies will tie or break the Rockies’ MLB record, but when.