The Phillies have been on a heck of a run lately, and we all knew it would come to an end sooner or later. Sunday was that day, as the D-Backs torched our boys 13-1 to stop the Phils’ winning streak at nine. It was a sloppy game all the way around, as erratic pitching, poor defense and ice cold bats sunk the Phillies early.
Ranger Suárez struggled through 4.1 innings, tossing 88 pitches, but only 53 strikes. His defense let him down, as a J.T. Realmuto error botched a would-be 1-2-3 double play, and Alec Bohm failed to record an out on an easy ground ball. However, Suárez didn’t do himself any favors, as he allowed four hits and four walks while only striking out two. The relief pitching wasn’t any better, as longman Nick Nelson surrendered four earned runs over 1.1 innings, while newly recalled José Alvarado gave up two of his own in 1.0 inning. Quad-A right-hander James Norwood allowed the D-Backs to score two more on three hits and a walk in the eighth, further evidencing his inability to hack it at the major league level. All told, Phillies pitchers issued 11 walks, reverting back to their worrisome ways of missing the strike zone.
Ironically, the best pitching performance of the day for the Phillies came from backup catcher Garrett Stubbs, who gave up only one run on a solo shot from Jake McCarthy, while walking none in the top of the ninth. The Phillies’ offense was nonexistent, as Realmuto collected the only extra base hit of the game. Phillies batters struck out 13 times, as they just couldn’t seem to make contact with the ball.
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After blowing the doors off their opponents for the past week and a half, the Phillies were destined to drop a game at some point. The fact that it was such a laugher takes nothing away from the team’s brilliance of late, and they’ll look to get back on track Monday night against the Marlins.