The All-Star break came a day early for the Phillies, apparently.
They'd been unbeaten in 15 consecutive home series and the visiting Athletics entered the weekend with 25 losses in their last 29 road games, but anything can happen on a big-league field and the A's smoked them Sunday, homering eight times to win 18-3 and claim the series.
The game and the first half ended for the Phillies with catcher Garrett Stubbs on the mound.
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“It’s not the way you want to end, but hey, we had a great first half,” manager Rob Thomson said. “We still had a 4-2 homestand. You’re gonna have games like that. Still a really good first half.”
The Phils were fresh off a sweep of the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park and this was their first series loss since the first three days of April against the Reds. They are 62-34 and still enter the All-Star break in terrific shape with no less than an 8½-game division lead over the Braves and no less than a 5½-game lead over the Dodgers for home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Though they're the far superior team to Oakland, the Phillies knew Sunday would be a challenge. They were without their scheduled starter and three key relievers.
Zack Wheeler had originally been set for the start but left Tuesday's win with back spasms and was ruled out through the All-Star break. He and Ranger Suarez both line up to start in Minnesota in the Phillies' second series of the second half.
Philadelphia Phillies
Without Wheeler, the Phillies used Orion Kerkering as an opener and Michael Mercado as the bulk pitcher behind him. Kerkering pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first and Mercado was unscathed in the second and third innings but the A's crushed four balls off of him in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, three of which left the park for two-run homers.
Potential Phillies trade target Brent Rooker hit two of the homers, 450 and 452 feet, both over the ivy wall in center. He made a big impression this weekend, going 7-for-12 with three homers, a double and seven RBI.
Jose Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman had been used three times in four days and Gregory Soto pitched Friday and Saturday, so all three were unavailable Sunday. The Phillies hoped to get Mercado past the sixth inning to utilize Jose Ruiz, Matt Strahm and Seranthony Dominguez to close out the game, but the A's had a five-run lead by the time Mercado's afternoon was over and Dominguez was taken deep twice himself.
The A's hit three homers off Mercado, two against Dominguez, two against Jose Ruiz and one off Stubbs.
“I think there’s a big picture there,” Kyle Schwarber said. “Obviously today’s today and not leaving on the right foot will probably last a little bit, but the overall picture is we put ourselves in a really good position.”
Mercado looked good in his first major-league start July 2 at Wrigley Field, holding the Cubs to one run on two hits over five innings. The last two have been rough. He allowed five runs and put eight men on base without making it out of the second inning last Sunday in Atlanta, then caught too many barrels against Oakland. Even in the top of the third Sunday when the A's sent only three men to the plate, two of them laced balls that left fielder Brandon Marsh had to race to catch fully extended.
Tyler Phillips has moved past Mercado on the starting pitching depth chart with four solid innings of relief in Atlanta and six innings in a win Saturday. Phillips lines up to start either Saturday or Sunday in Pittsburgh in the Phillies' first series out of the break.
It's unclear what they'll do with Mercado. The Phils could send him back to Triple A to continue starting and call up another pitcher like lefty Kolby Allard, who has a 3.09 ERA with 33 strikeouts and seven walks in his last 32 innings.
The starting pitching situation is dicier now than it's been all season with Wheeler and Suarez dealing with minor back injuries, Taijuan Walker sidelined by a blister and Spencer Turnbull out until at least August with a lat strain. They're all making progress, though.
As has been the case often these first two weeks of July, Trea Turner started the scoring with a home run. Oakland right-hander Joey Estes threw him a slider on the sixth pitch that didn't get far enough down or away and Turner took the same short, simple, seemingly low-effort swing he's taken time and again this month.
Turner is up to 11 home runs on the year with eight HR and 20 RBI in his last 13 games. The Phillies had the NL Player of the Month in May and again in June in Bryce Harper, and Turner sure looks like the frontrunner with July halfway over.
Turner is one of six Phillies who won't have a full break because he'll fly to Texas to participate in Tuesday's All-Star Game. Suarez and Wheeler were also selected but won't make the trip as they rehab their injuries.
It was an ugly end to the first half but it's hard to play better overall than the Phillies have through 96 games, reaching the break on a 105-57 pace. They were a win away from matching the National League record prior to the break, and their eight All-Stars matched a big-league record. They've been far and away the best and deepest team in baseball, just not this weekend.