After Saturday night’s mind-blowing sixth straight loss, in which they blew another big lead and then walked in the winning run in extra innings against the Mariners, catcher J.T. Realmuto captured the essence of what had befallen the Phillies lately.
“We’re just finding ways to lose,” he told reporters at T-Mobile Park. “It’s something different every night.”
In Sunday’s series finale, they found ways to win, 6-0, in a game that was a nail-biter until the Phillies broke it open in the eighth.
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• Righthander Zack Wheeler, making his first start since giving up seven earned runs in five innings against the Yankees, stifling Seattle on two hits and one walk while striking out nine in eight innings. Only one runner reached second base against him.
• Bryce Harper, having a breakout game after enduring the worst slump (0 for 25 before a double Saturday) of his career, with two singles and a two-run homer in the eighth that opened the floodgates on what had been a taut pitcher’s duel.
The first hit gave him 3,000 total bases for his career, becoming the 42nd player in history to reach that milestone before his 32nd birthday.
• Kyle Schwarber getting the Phils off to a positive start just hours after that disheartening defeat by leading off the game with a homer against Mariners ace Logan Gilbert.
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• Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm joined Harper by going deep in a three-homer eighth. The Phillies had hit a total of three home runs in their previous five games.
• And, just in case there was still any doubt that this was going to be the Phillies day, there was Brandon Marsh catching a fly ball that he didn’t even see.
With the Phillies still protecting a one-run lead, Seattle second baseman Jorge Polanco led off with a fly ball toward the gap in right-center. As Marsh ran to his left, it was quickly apparent he’d lost the ball in the sun. And he seemed almost startled when the ball landed in his glove. The replay clearly showed him tell rightfielder Nick Castellanos that he never saw it.
Said Harper in the televised postgame interview on the field: “It’s definitely been a tough stretch. Individually and as a team with multiple guys. But we’ve just got to keep fighting and keep knowing we’re the best team in baseball. At least have the best record in our division and are one of the best teams in the National League and all of baseball as well.
“So we’ve just got to keep rolling and keep playing. It’s part of the game. It’s part of greatness as well. You’re going to go through peaks and valleys. There’s times when it gets tough and you’ve just got to keep grinding. Don’t take days off. Keep playing for your team, for your teammates, for the guys around you.
“There are times, obviously, where I expand the zone. When I expand the zone, I’m really bad. When I don’t expand the zone and I hit pitches over the plate, I’m really good. It’s as simple as that. (But) it’s the big leagues and (slumps are) going to happen at certain points. It could happen again. I just want to win. I think that’s the biggest thing. And I know when I play well we’re going to win.
“So when I don’t play well and we lose, I take a lot of that on myself. I want to be great. I want to be the best and do the things I can to help this team, to help this organization get to where they want to be. And I want to do it on a nightly basis. I’ve just got to be consistent in my work and consistent in what I do each day.”
After watching their division lead plummet from 9.5 to five games in less than a week, the win along with Atlanta’s loss to the last-place Marlins allowed the Phillies to go back up six games over the Braves.
They won despite facing one of the best starters in baseball, overlooked because he works in the upper lefthand country and has a 6-8 record. Which demonstrates again why wins and losses are a stat that is no longer held in as high regard as it once was.
His WHIP (walks and hits per nine innings) is a best-in-baseball 0.89. He’s tied for the lead in quality starts with 18. But Seattle’s lineup scored two or fewer runs in 10 of his starts.
While the headlines were obvious, Castellanos had an under-the-radar at-bat in the second that may have had a delayed effect. After falling behind, 0-2, he extended the at-bat to 15 pitches, including nine fouls, the longest in baseball this season.
That helped run up Gilbert’s pitch count, convincing manager Scott Servais to take him out after six innings despite giving up just four hits and one run. That gave the Phillies an opportunity to against the Seattle bullpen and they took advantage in the eighth.
The big win allowed the Phillies to breathe a sigh of relief, but the task ahead doesn’t get easier. After the game they flew to Los Angeles, where they’ll open a three-game series against the first-place Dodgers Monday, followed by four games at Arizona.
The Phillies swept the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park July 9-11, but then lost 13 of their next 17 (and six straight series) before Sunday’s win.
“Obviously, we haven’t played our best baseball lately. To be able to get a win going into L.A. against a real good team is big for us,” Harper said.
Pitching matchups for Dodger Stadium: RHP Aaron Nola (11-4, 3.43) vs. RHP Tyler Glasnow (8-6, 3.50) Monday at 10:10 p.m. ET, LHP Cristopher Sanchez (7-7, 3.36) vs. LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-1, 5.87) Tuesday at 10:10 p.m. ET and RHP Tyler Phillips (3-1, 3.49) vs. RHP Gavin Stone (9-5, 3.63) Wednesday at 10:10 p.m. ET.