The Phillies snapped their ten-game losing streak on Saturday night by actually getting some late, clutch hits and prevailing in extra innings.
On Sunday, the Braves reverted to their winning ways, while the Phillies were back on their B.S. Aaron Nola was rocked, the hitters looked feeble against Chris Sale, and they lost to the Braves 6-2, marking their eleventh loss in twelve games.
One of the recurring themes of the Phillies’ freefall has been a tendency for their pitchers to give up a lot of cheap hits. And far too often, those cheap hits are followed by not-so-cheap ones. We got to see that familiar sequence immediately on Sunday. Ronald Acuna, Jr. led off the first with an infield single and Drake Baldwin followed with another single. Another phenomenon we’re quite used to is Nola giving up a home run, and that’s exactly what he did next when Matt Olson sent a deep ball to right field to make it 3-0.
Matt Olson gets the @Braves started with a 3-run blast 💥 pic.twitter.com/OIV01b4Ruo
The game was essentially over at that point, but the Braves weren’t done. Mauricio Dubon led off the second with a triple, and Eli White followed with another home run. After Nola actually recorded an out, he walked Acuna, allowed a steal of second base, and then another single to Baldwin to make it 6-0.
To Nola’s slight credit, he held the Braves scoreless over the next 2.2 innings, and then the Phillies’ bullpen was also able to keep them off the board after that. But with Sale at the top of his game, it didn’t come close to mattering.
After being retired with ease in the first two innings, the Phillies’ offense almost showed signs of life in the third. With two outs, Rafael Marchan was hit by a pitch, Trea Turner singled, and Kyle Schwarber walked. That brought Bryce Harper to the plate.
Harper was one of the heroes of Saturday, and he clearly wanted to be a hero again on Sunday. He worked a 3-0 count and then swung at a borderline pitch. But as too often happens, when the Phillies swing on hitter’s counts, the result was a foul ball. Harper then watched strike two and was blown away by a 98 MPH fastball to end the inning, and any realistic chance the Phillies had at a comeback.
Sale retired the first eight batters he faced, suddenly lost command, loaded the bases, fell behind Harper 3-0 and then nailed this 98 mph heater pic.twitter.com/UXJnULBODn
Sale cruised through the sixth inning, not allowing another baserunner. In the eighth, the Phillies took advantage of the Braves’ bullpen and some defensive sloppiness when Marchan reached on an error. One batter later, Schwarber hit a home run that did little but make his stats – and the final score – a little bit prettier.
With that, the Phillies’ disastrous road trip comes to an end. After a much needed (for the fans if not the team) day off on Monday, they’ll be home to start a three-game series with the Giants on Tuesday. With the team in free fall, we’ll see if the team’s personnel and coaching staff still looks the same when that series begins.