Phillies’ weaknesses on display in season-ending 6-2 loss to Braves in Game 3
It was the Phillies’ roster construction that led to their demise in their wild-card series, from the lack of starting depth, a competent bullpen, and reliable right-handed hitters.
ATLANTA — Like statues, there they stood, this Phillies team. Leaning against the dugout railing, chins resting on their crossed arms as they watched it all slip away once again.
This one was a slow death. But the end could have been discerned a mile away.
Even before Michael Harris II’s first-inning homer off Aaron Nola that gave Atlanta a lead it would not surrender. Even before Ozzie Albies’ fourth-inning homer off Zack Wheeler, that might have been the mortal blow.
It was the Phillies’ roster construction that led to this, a 6-2 loss to the Braves on Thursday night, the end of their season in Game 3 of the wild-card series. It was the lack of starting depth, the lack of a competent bullpen, the lack of reliable right-handed hitters. The weaknesses that at times the Phillies had been able to paper over were all amplified by the way their regular season ended, and directly led to their demise on Thursday.
The four consecutive games lost in the final week, delaying and delaying a postseason clinch until the very last possible moment, loom incredibly large now. The Phillies used Nola on two days’ rest in Game 161 as a desperate attempt to secure a playoff berth — which failed. They were then forced to use Wheeler in Game 162.
When both pitchers gave up blasts to the Braves over the right-center field wall on Thursday, there were endless “what ifs.” What if Wheeler wasn’t pitching on three days’ rest? What if he had started the game instead of Nola, who has historically been hit hard by the top of Atlanta’s order? What if the Phillies’ bats could have picked up their overworked pitchers?
None of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s trade deadline acquisitions — not Brooks Raley, nor the injured Luis Arraez and Caleb Kilian — were on the wild-card roster.
It was a nightmare scenario for the Phillies early, and a best-case scenario for the Braves. Atlanta opener Ray Kerr two months ago had been a minor leaguer. But he did his job by handling the Phillies’ lefties — excluding Schwarber, who singled and then drew a walk — while their righties failed to carry the load. Leadoff hitter Trea Turner went 0-for-2 against the lefty Kerr.
Nola, on the other hand, only managed to secure five outs. The veteran right-hander did not have his command, and he sprayed the ball all over the place while Atlanta was content to take its bases. That is, until Harris went down and got a sinker below the zone in the first inning, powering it 387 feet for a 3-0 Atlanta lead in the blink of an eye.
Tim Mayza finished off the second inning before Nola could see the top of the Braves’ order again. And then it was Wheeler for the third, tasked with stopping the bleeding there. But a nine-pitch walk to Austin Riley, followed by a mistake pitch to Albies, resulted in yet another homer over that brick wall in right center.
A five-run deficit, especially in the fourth, has been surmountable for this club before. But with every infield groundout, with every lazy fly ball, it became apparent the Phillies had exhausted the last of their comeback magic. They managed a run in the sixth — on a Schwarber single, a Harper double, and an RBI groundout from Alec Bohm — and another in the seventh. Derek Hill tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly from Turner.
But the Phillies were unable to snatch momentum back with the long ball, as they had done on Wednesday. While the Braves went deep again in the seventh, this time Matt Olson against Jonathan Bowlan, the Phillies couldn’t find their power. In the eighth, Atlanta brought in ace Chris Sale in relief, after the 37-year-old had thrown 95 pitches two days ago, to face Harper. He chased three pitches outside the zone to strike out in a non-competitive at-bat.
Sale closed it out in the ninth. He gave up a leadoff single from Bohm, but retired Bryson Stott, Bryan De La Cruz, and Otto Kemp to send the Braves to the Division Series against the Dodgers. Fireworks ignited the sky, as the Phillies leaned on the railing and watched.
This core will leave Truist Park late Thursday night another year older, and never further from that elusive goal.
