Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Phillips has been one heck of a Cinderella story for the Phillies so far this season. But, for one night at least, he turned into a pumpkin.
Phillips, the South Jersey native who has ben living out his dream pitching for the team he grew up cheering for, was rocked for eight runs on five hits and three walks, including tree home runs in just 1 2/3 innings pitched as the Phillies opened their road trip with a 10-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Friday.
The Phillies (65-44) have now lost five in a row and 12-of-16 and have watched their lead in the N.L. East shrink to five games over the Atlanta Braves – the smallest lead they’ve had since May 28.
They have also dropped the opening game of a series for the sixth straight time. They have gone on to lose the series each of the previous five times.
Phillips (3-1) entered the game having not allowed a run in 15 consecutive innings, but his bad night started rather quickly as Victor Robles crushed his first pitch of the night 426 feet into the second deck of left field, giving Seattle a lead it would never relinquish.
Things went from bad to worse in the second inning and Phillips yielded a three-run homer to Luke Raley – which was another bomb, traveling 459 feet into the third deck in right field – the ninth longest home run ever hit at T-Mobile Park.
Phillips’ night ended later in the inning when Justin Turner launched a grand slam off the rookie, putting the Phillies behind 8-0 before most fans had even settled into their seats.
The Philadelphia offense, which has been stagnant and unproductive during this freefall, didn’t score until the game was long over in the ninth inning. The Phillies’ hitters were only able to scratch out five hits against Seattle starter Bryan Woo (5-1), in seven shutout innings.
Trea Turner and Bryce Harper continued their midsummer night’s bad dream with another hitless performance each. Turner was 0-for-3 before getting lifted from the game in the bottom of the seventh. Meanwhile, Harper went 0-for-4, stretching his career-worst slump to 1-for-34.
If you add in leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber, the top three guys in the lineup are 6-for-61 (.098) during the current losing streak. That has to change if the Phillies want to break this losing spell.
The Phillies scored their runs in the ninth after Alec Bohm led off with a double and Brandon Marsh followed with a triple. Marsh would later score on a pinch-hit single by Weston Wilson.
Bohm’s double was his 39th of the season. He has an outside shot at reaching 60 doubles by the end of the season, a total not reached in the major leagues since 1935 when ballpark outfield distances were significantly larger than in the modern game.
The only other bright spots for the Phillies were a couple of relievers who pitched more than one inning and kept the Mariners off the board. Jose Ruiz tossed 1 1/3 innings allowing just one hit while newly acquired Tanner Banks threw two hitless innings with three strikeouts.
However, Yunior Marte gave up a run after allowing two hits and two walks in his one inning of work while Jose Alvarado gave up Seattle’s fourth home run of the game when Mitch Haniger hit an 0-1 cutter out of the park to left centerfield.
The Mariners posting 10 runs and nine hits was a bit of a pleasant surprise for their fans as the Mariners had hit just .205 all season at T-Mobile Park prior to lighting up the scoreboard against the Phillies.
Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs was called on to pitch an inning for the Phillies for the third time in the last 14 games. The Phillies had not needed a position player to pitch at any point in their first 94 games this season.
ON DECK
Needing to stop the bleeding, the Phillies are putting their faith in a combo package of pitchers for Saturday’s game in Seattle. Orion Kerkering (2-2, 2.21 ERA) will be the opener for Philadelphia. Kolby Allard, who was called up from Triple-A last week to replace the injured Ranger Surez, is expected to relieve Kerkering and pitch bulk innings in the middle of the game.
Seattle will counter with RHP Bryce Miller (8-7, 3.46 ERA).
