Phillies’ nightmarish start continues as they’re badly outplayed at Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK — There’s never just one reason for a losing streak and there are many to explain the Phillies’ 0-4 start.
They didn’t pitch well the first two games in Texas. They played sloppy defense on Saturday. They couldn’t come up with a big hit on Sunday.
Monday night at Yankee Stadium, they were out-executed in all phases by the home team in an 8-1 loss.
It started immediately when DJ LeMahieu sent a low line drive to center field to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Brandon Marsh was caught in between and decided at the last second to try to catch it rather than field it on a hop. The ball went under his glove and all the way to the wall in center for a “triple.”
Debuting starting pitcher Taijuan Walker walked the next two batters before encountering tough luck in the form of back-to-back weakly hit ground balls. The first was hit softly enough that Trea Turner could only get one out at first. The next ricocheted off Walker’s glove for an RBI infield single.
Walker did limit the damage to those two runs but the Yankees extended their lead on Gleyber Torres’ solo home run in the third and Anthony Rizzo’s two-run blast to the second deck in right field in the fifth.
In the prior half-inning, the Phillies ran themselves out of a potential game-tying or go-ahead rally. They were trailing by two when Marsh cued a double down the third-base line. With two outs, J.T. Realmuto lined a single to right field. Marsh got a decent jump and appeared to have a chance to score as he rounded third base, but Franchy Cordero made a quick throw home and third base coach Dusty Wathan put up a stop sign. Marsh reacted late and was caught too far off of third base. Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes backed up the plate as pitchers are taught to do, snagged Cordero’s sailing throw and fired to third to nab Marsh.
It was a turning point. By the next inning, the game was essentially over.
Walker’s Phillies debut was rocky. His velocity, down to 88-89 mph in his final spring training start, was back up to 94-96. He struck out Aaron Judge swinging twice and induced 10 whiffs on 36 swings. But his control was off and no pitcher will be satisfied with an outing that included three walks and a bomb.
Manager Rob Thomson pulled Walker at 87 pitches with one out in the fifth inning. He was relieved by Yunior Marte, who was blown up and is likely headed to Triple A Tuesday to get a fresh arm into the Phillies’ bullpen. Marte allowed four runs in one-third of an inning on three hits and three walks.
Four games into the season, the Phillies have already had four different relief outings where the pitcher allowed at least three runs without recording more than one out. These ugly appearances have broken games open.
The Phillies have allowed 37 runs, matching their most through four games since 1895. They’ve been out-homered 8-1.
Their longest start so far belongs to Bailey Falter at 5 innings. Lefty Matt Strahm starts Tuesday night and the Phillies are capping him at approximately 65 pitches since he hasn’t made a real start in four years. The Phillies’ pitching staff has already been taxed early and will need to cover at least five innings Tuesday. Then they draw Gerrit Cole on Wednesday.
Picking up a win at Yankee Stadium before coming back to Philly for Thursday’s home opener will be a challenge.
