Jesús Luzardo's teammates let him down after a gem in his Phillies playoff debut

On Monday night, Jesús Luzardo's Philadelphia Phillies teammates let his gem of a pitching performance go for nothing in his playoff debut with Philly. In Game 2 of the National League Divisional Series, he put the club in a position to potentially send the series to Dodger Stadium tied at 1-1.

However, the Phillies' main issues, their offense and bullpen, are now the reasons they lost 4-3 and are on the brink of elimination as their NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers shifts to Southern California for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Phillies offense and bullpen wasted Jesús Luzardo's Game 2 gem

Luzardo looked great until the seventh inning. Over the first six innings he allowed just one hit and a walk with five strikeouts. The lefty received the loss despite pitching a good game without sufficient help from the bullpen and most of all, the offense.

In the seventh, the left-hander allowed a single to Teoscar Hernández followed by a double to Freddie Freeman. Phillies manager Rob Thomson made the switch to the bullpen and Orion Kerkering entered in relief.

Enrique Hernández reached on a fielder's choice which allowed Teoscar Hernández to score the first run of the ball game on a close play at the plate. Kerkering was an out away at one point from keeping the game at 1-0, but Will Smith broke the game open as he hit a single that scored two runs.

Matt Strahm replaced Kerkering. Shohei Ohtani knocked another run in on a single. Luzardo may have been responsible for the first two runners that scored, but Thomson's trusted relievers could not get the job done for a second consecutive game. David Robertson, Kerkering and Strahm have been underwhelming.

The Phillies offense was ice cold against Dodgers starter Blake Snell. The left-hander finished with nine strikeouts and only allowed one hit. He did allow four walks but otherwise was excellent. Philly made the game interesting beginning in the eighth inning as they managed to score one run. However, with runners on base and only one out, Los Angeles caught a break as Kyle Schwarber struck out and Bryce Harper flied out.

Philly attempted to rally back in the ninth and managed to cut the deficit to one thanks to Nick Castellanos. His two-run double scored Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto. All the momentum looked to be in the team's corner.

However, one of their core players in Trea Turner could not get a hit to score the tying run from third base. The shortstop grounded out to give the Dodgers a 2-0 series lead, silencing Citizens Bank Park and sending Phillies fans home for perhaps the final time until 2026.

Once again, the starting pitching was not the issue for Philadelphia (subscription required). Their offense, bullpen, and Thomson's decision-making came back to haunt them. They would have had some momentum going into Game 3 if they would have rallied to win. Now, they officially have none as their season is close to ending in a disaster.