The Phillies were poised to author a resounding response to being swept by the Mets earlier in the week.
They were on the cusp of sweeping the Braves in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
But the bullpen couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.
Jose Alvarado surrendered a two-run home run to Braves pinch hitter Drake Baldwin in the top of the ninth inning as Atlanta defeated the Phillies 3-1 in Sunday night’s series finale.
The Phillies maintained their six-game lead in the NL East thanks to the Mets’ 5-1 loss to the Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
Braves pinch-hitter Jake Fraley led off the top of the ninth with an infield single that deflected off Alvarado’s glove. Fraley advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Nacho Alvarez Jr. After pinch hitter Vidal Brujan struck out, Baldwin stepped to the plate and delivered the deciding swing of the night.
“Probably up a little bit and out over the plate,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Alvarado’s 98 mile per hour sinker that Baldwin deposited in the left field seats. “(Baldwin) barreled that pretty good. But I liked Alvarado’s stuff tonight.”
The Phillies were six outs away from their third straight one-run win, leading 1-0 entering the top of the eighth inning. Orion Kerkering surrendered an infield single and walked the next two batters to load the bases with no outs.
Thomson removed Kerkering in favor of Tanner Banks, who did a masterful job of limiting the damage. After the tying run scored on a Matt Olson groundout, Banks struck out Ronald Acuna Jr. looking. Ozzie Albies was intentionally walked before Banks got Michael Harris II to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Kerkering has now allowed at least one earned run in four of his last six outings.
“He’s just misfiring,” Thomson said of Kerkering’s recent struggles. “Two walks tonight. He’s got to trust the stuff and attack the zone. Go after people. He just didn’t have it tonight.”
The bullpen spoiled a terrific outing by Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo, who set the tone by retiring the first 13 Braves batters he faced. He tossed six and two-thirds shutout innings, leaving the field to a standing ovation.
“Just establishing the fastball,” Luzardo said when asked about the key to his outing. “I had good command of it today, which was good. Just filling up the strike zone for the most part, me and J.T. (Realmuto) had a good plan out there. Just trying to keep them off balance as much as possible.”
Luzardo allowed just two hits, struck out seven and issued one walk. He threw 104 pitches, 71 for strikes.
Brandon Marsh provided the Phillies’ only run of the night in the bottom of the fourth inning, swatting a solo home run to right field. It was Marsh’s eighth homer of the season.
It was the only damage the Phillies did against Braves rookie phenom Hurston Waldrep, who entered his fifth career start with a 0.90 ERA. The 23-year old right-hander allowed one run in five and two-thirds innings, striking out nine and walking four.
“His stuff’s good,” Thomson said of Waldrep. “We hadn’t seen him before but that’s not an excuse. His stuff is really good. He’s got a really good pitch mix. He attacks the zone, his split is his swing and miss pitch. He’s got good stuff.”
The Phillies squandered several scoring opportunities, leaving runners in scoring position in the third, fifth and seventh innings. They struck out a total of 13 times.
The Phillies finished the month of August with a 18-11 record. They are 79-58 on the season and hold a one-game lead over the Dodgers for the second-best record in the National League. Securing the No. 2 seed in the NL postseason means the Phillies would receive a bye to the NLDS and avoid having to play a wild card series.
Despite Sunday’s disappointing result, taking three of four from Atlanta was a step in the right direction, especially after what transpired in New York.
“That was a big bounce back for us,” Marsh said of the series against the Braves. “(Starters) pitched their butts off and the lineup as a whole, I felt like we did a really good job this series. It was a big bounce back, much-needed for sure.”
The Phillies begin a 3-game series against the best team in baseball, the Brewers, on Monday afternoon in Milwaukee. The Brewers swept the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in May, outscoring the home team 28-11 in that three-game series.
Read the full article here