Monday's return to Citi Field started out so well for the Philadelphia Phillies. But the NL East leader's house of horrors reared its head again in the first of three against the New York Mets, in an ugly 13-3 loss. Unfortunately, Phillies manager Rob Thomson didn't help the cause after things began going downhill. Two glaringly bad decisions cost the Phillies a chance to climb back into what was at one point a winnable game.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez cruised through the first three innings. The budding Cy Young contender looked like his usual dominant self, not allowing a hit through three easy innings. The Phillies led 3-0 after three frames.
That's when things started to unravel. Sánchez's fourth-inning balk followed by a wild pitch was the beginning of the end for the Phillies.
Rob Thomson should never have sent Cristopher Sánchez out for sixth inning
Thomson didn't help matters. After Sánchez struggled through the end of the fourth and then the fifth, allowing four runs and looking exceptionally discombobulated, the Phillies' skipper sent the lefty back out to start the sixth. It was a questionable move before Sánchez had even thrown a pitch.
The Phillies were only down by one run at that point. Sánchez had thrown 84 pitches, with plenty of stressful pitches over his last two innings. Thomson would have been well within his right to pull Sánchez. But that's not what happened.
A pair of Mets doubles to make it 5-3 made it apparent to everyone watching it was the wrong move. Thomson mercifully pulled Sánchez, but the damage was done. After David Robertson allowed one more Mets run to cross the plate, the Phillies trailed 6-3 heading to the seventh.
Sánchez's final line was ugly. He was charged with six runs (five earned) on eight hits and three walks with just four strikeouts, bumping his ERA up to 2.66 on the year. It was shocking considering he had thrown 13 quality starts in his last 14 outings.
Thomson, Phillies threw in the towel against Mets by bringing in Jordan Romano
But that wasn't the last move Thomson had up his sleeve.
With the game still within reach, down by just three, Jordan Romano emerged from the bullpen to pitch the seventh. Even the most optimistic Phillies fan knew the game was over at that point. Seeing the beleaguered right-hander out there even the players must have known that Thomson was throwing in the towel in what was supposed to be a measuring-stick game for both NL East clubs.
Romano hadn't pitched in a week, since surrendering a three-run home run to the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 18. The Phillies thought the extra rest would help. It didn't.
The four-run inning that featured a hit batter, a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly was capped off by a three-run homer off the bat of catcher Luis Torrens. The Mets laughed their way to a 10-3 lead, sealing the Phillies' fate. Keep in mind, Torrens had hit a total of two home runs in 217 at-bats this season before Monday.
Torrens raises the Applin! 🍎😤 pic.twitter.com/raQmHOaVT3
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 26, 2025
The dreadful but unsurprising inning of work ballooned Romano's ERA to 8.23. It perhaps sealed his fate to not finish the season with the World Series-hopeful Phillies. Fans can only hope.
Regardless of what the future holds for Romano, Thomson's decision to go to him in a game in which the Phillies still had a chance signals that he was ready to move onto Tuesday's rematch. Or, he's just as fed up with Romano still being in the bullpen and was trying to send a message to Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Of course, there were plenty of other reasons that the Phillies got embarrassed by the Mets on Monday.
They had a chance to bury Mets starter Kodai Senga in the first three innings but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. There was the Bryce Harper to Bryson Stott botched pick-off play in the fifth. Instead of an easy out, Juan Soto was left standing safely on second base before eventually scoring. There was the fact that the lineup didn't manage a single hit against the Mets' bullpen.
But after all that, Thomson didn't give the Phillies a chance.