Top 5 most brutal Philadelphia Phillies losses in 2022 season

Ranking the five worst losses for the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies

For a Philadelphia Phillies team seeking its first postseason berth in 11 seasons, every game is critical throughout the 162-game schedule.

Given the large sample size of games, odds are that there will be blowouts backed by a strong showing from the offense. Alternatively, there will be games where the pitching just does not have it. Monday’s three-game series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a little bit of both — culminating in a brutal loss.

Here is a ranking of the top five worst Phillies losses in the 2022 season — two of which surprisingly occurred under the leadership of interim manager Rob Thomson. Hopefully, none of these losses come back to bite the team and prevent them from a Wild Card series appearance.

1. August 29: Arizona Diamondbacks 13, Philadelphia Phillies 7

Given Monday’s game was a late 9:40 start time, chances are that most fans were not awake to see this heartbreaking defeat as it went down at Chase Field.

In fact, the Phillies were ahead by as many as seven runs in the top of the fourth inning, before being outscored 13-0 en route to the six-run loss.

The Phillies offense started the contest on fire — collecting seven runs (all earned) and 11 hits opposite three-time World Series champion southpaw Madison Bumgarner. Bryce Harper hitting a two-run double and Kyle Schwarber launching a three-run home run were among the highlights.

But then things quickly turned south. In the bottom of the fourth, starting pitcher Ranger Suarez allowed as many as four straight hits — allowing the Diamondbacks to cut their deficit to 7-2. Then a costly fielding error by Jean Segura — who earlier in the game was caught stealing to end the team’s scoring rally early — ended up allowing the Phillies opposition to score three more runs in the frame.

Cristopher Sanchez entered in relief and would allow a leadoff double in the bottom of the fifth before walking two straight batters. Sanchez later hit a Diamondbacks batter with the bases loaded. The inning kept unraveling from there and ended with Arizona with a commanding 12-7 lead. The Phillies went on to lose, 13-7.