Slumping Trea Turner didn’t waste time getting ready for Game 2 as Phillies hitters try to ‘flip the switch’
Turner, who went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, went right to the batting cage after the loss to the Mets. He wasn’t alone in his struggles at the plate in Game 1.
Trea Turner walked into the Phillies clubhouse at 7:55 p.m. on Saturday. He was in full uniform, with a bat in each hand. Their 6-2 loss to the Mets in Game 1 of the National League Division Series had ended a half an hour earlier, but the Phillies shortstop wanted to take some extra swings.
So, he stepped into the cage, as assistant hitting coach Rafael Peña fired pitch after pitch. He saw dozens of them, maybe 100.
“Just to talk and look at some things,” Turner said. “Get ready for tomorrow.”
He was coming off a frustrating night. Turner went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the Mets. The Phillies scored two runs on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.
Game 1: Mets 6, Phillies 2 | Hayes | Murphy
Game 2: Phillies 7, Mets 6 | Hayes | Murphy
Game 3: Mets 7, Phillies 2 | Hayes | Murphy
Game 4: Mets 4, Phillies 1 | Hayes | Murphy
They wasted one of the best starts of Zack Wheeler’s playoff career, and set an ominous tone for the rest of this series. What compounded the frustration in the clubhouse was that everyone knew what the problem was. It was the same problem the Phillies had this time last year.
“We’re chasing balls in the dirt,” said Bryce Harper. “We didn’t work deep into counts like we should’ve. We’ve got to understand what they’re gonna try to do to us, and flip the switch as an offense, immediately.”
Flipping the switch is easier said than done. The more you press, the more you try not to chase, the harder it is to do exactly that. But awareness of the opposing team’s game plan can help. And the plan, on how to attack the Phillies on Saturday night, was obvious.
There were not many pitches in the zone. That did not stop the lineup from swinging.
“I mean, obviously, they’re going to bury stuff,” Harper said. “And try to get us to chase as much as possible. Obviously, they’ve got really good pitching. But we’ve got really good hitters in here. We’ve just got to bear down and understand that we can do it.”
After Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run off Kodai Senga in the first inning, the Phillies did not score again until the bottom of the ninth. By then, it was not enough. The Mets had already put up a five-spot in the eighth, scoring three runs off Jeff Hoffman, and two off Matt Strahm.
They tacked on one more off Tanner Banks in the top of the ninth. It was a deflating way to lose, especially after Wheeler held the Mets to just one hit.
» READ MORE: Murphy: The Phillies just lost a near-must-win Game 1. The bats better arrive fast in Game 2.
“It sucks,” said Nick Castellanos. “It sucks. It sucks. The way he threw the ball, I think he deserves to have a win, for sure.”
Added Harper: “Obviously, I feel like, as an offense, we wasted that start.”
Turner said he struggled with borderline pitches — the ones that just nabbed the corners of the zone, that could be called a strike or a ball. Castellanos, Alec Bohm, and Johan Rojas chased at higher rates.
But regardless, the results were almost entirely the same. Castellanos finished his night 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Bohm went 0-for-4, and Rojas went 0-for-2 with a walk.
“I think I chased one pitch my first at-bat, one in my second,” Turner said. “I didn’t chase any in my last at-bat. I don’t know, it’s tough; my second at-bat, I get a borderline pitch ball and they call it a strike. And then you’re kind of thinking. ‘You have to swing at that,’ and then I ended up swinging at the curveball down, ground ball to the shortstop.
“Hindsight is so easy, And I agree with [manager Rob Thomson], for sure. Obviously not chasing is the way to win these games. We had quite a few walks today. I thought we did a good job of that. But we’ve got to keep passing the baton.”
What did not the help the Phillies, or the Mets, was that this was a late afternoon start time. Long shadows stretched out onto the field. A pitch could appear light, and then dark, and then light again, and then dark again, based on how the afternoon shadows were cast.
» READ MORE: Hayes: Heart-less Phillies collapse again in Game 1 of the NLDS vs. the Mets, like they did in the NLCS last year
It affected both teams. Pitching is more difficult to hit in the playoffs; it is especially difficult when you can’t see the trajectory or spin of the ball whizzing toward you.
“I feel like from the first inning through the seventh inning, it was really hard to see the baseball,” Castellanos said. “I think on both sides. What did we have three hits (two) in the first seven innings?
“And then, I think both teams — after the sun was behind the stadium — put together some better at-bats.”
He added: “It’s kind of like it is when we have that 1:30 p.m. start, and it gets to the back end of the game, and it gets more difficult. Four o’clock start, it’s going to get harder if there’s no clouds in the sky, and it’ll get easier as the game goes on.”
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The Phillies play the Mets again on Sunday, at the same time: 4:08 p.m. Their games on Tuesday and Wednesday are both at 5:08 p.m. at Citi Field. The shadows will still be there. The temptation to chase will still be there. The Phillies will just have to find a way to overcome it.
“It’s going to be a grind,” Castellanos said. “It’s going to be the same [shadows] for us as it is for them. We’re going to have to find a way to deal with it, put together good at-bats, and score more runs than them.”
