‘Bad baseball’ has the Phillies stuck in an early-season rut

PHILADELPHIA — “Bad baseball” is how Bryce Harper succinctly described the missed opportunity in the bottom of the eighth.

The Phillies had a prime chance to retake the lead, but failed to score with runners on first and third with nobody out in a 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon. The Phillies are now 7-8 and have dropped two of the first three home series of the year. 

Needing to put the ball in play, Bryson Stott struck out swinging for the first out of the eighth inning. On a 3-1 count with the runner at first Brandon Marsh taking off for second, Adolis García hit into a popup to the second baseman Ketel Marte, who threw over to first for the inning-ending double play.

What went wrong on that play? 

“On your third step, you should peek,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I haven’t looked at the tape, but (Marsh) lost the ball. 3-1 count, they were giving us second base. They’re also in double play depth, so if the ball is on the ground, we score and tie the game. That’s the way it is.” Marsh left the Phillies clubhouse before reporters had a chance to speak with him about that play after the game.

But the bottom of the eighth, from Stott’s strikeout to the popup to Marsh’s baserunning mistake, wasn’t the only misstep of the game for the Phillies. Another one came from the ultra-aggressive Harper, who ran into an out in the bottom of the fourth. He left the field hearing boos, a reflection of just how often Phillies fans are used to seeing Harper make reckless decisions on the bases.

He didn’t describe that decision as “bad baseball.” 

“Feel like most that are hit in that spot, I try to get there,” Harper said. “Thought it was a good point in the game, hadn’t really had anything going the whole day. Made a good throw and they got me in that situation.” 

“He’s aggressive,” Thomson said. “Most of the time, he’s safe.” When asked, Thomson said he doesn’t need to have a conversation about it with the 15-year major league veteran. “He knows. He knows,” the manager said. 

More bad baseball came from the struggling José Alvarado pitching on back-to-back days. The lefty was charged with two earned runs. He has a 12.60 ERA on the year. While the number is inflated due to one bad outing in a very low leverage spot against the Nationals, he has struggled badly at times with command. 

There were some positives. Amid an early slump, Trea Turner homered for the first time this season.

The Phillies shortstop, who entered the game with a .591 OPS through 14 games, tied it up in the sixth inning on a two-run home run that landed in the first row. The call on the field was originally a double, but a video replay review showed the ball just getting over the fence in right field. Harper gave the Phillies the lead two batters later with an RBI double, marking three straight extra-base hits from the top three hitters in the order.

But in the end, the lineup didn’t do enough. They combined to score 11 runs over three games against the Diamondbacks. All of those runs scored came in a single inning in each game: four in the first inning on Friday, four in the third inning on Saturday and three in the sixth on Sunday. 

“We’ve got great players up and down,” Turner said. “Sometimes, and I’m guilty of this too, you just try too hard. It’s kind of a freebie. All you have to do is hit a fly ball to center field or move a guy over and sometimes it doesn’t happen. It’s really obvious, looking back at the situations that could change the game. We understand them. 

“We know what we’re trying to do, but it doesn’t always happen. Like I said, I think that’s some of the difference in these wins and losses. We’re pitching pretty well, playing good defense. It’s just the timely hitting, moving guys, sac flies, simple things that could change in a hurry.” 

Originally scratched from his start with a migraine, Andrew Painter gutted out five solid innings in relief.

Painter filled up the strike zone. He struck out seven batters and recorded 14 swing-and-misses on the afternoon, tied for the fourth-most by a Phillies starter in a game this season.

Painter, who has a history of migraines, woke up feeling ill but recovered in time to give the Phillies a solid bulk outing. He is the first Phillies pitcher to throw five innings and strike out seven in relief since Mark Leiter Jr. on Aug. 10, 2017. 

Who knows how the Phillies would have gotten through nine innings without Painter.

“I didn’t know the extent of how long I was going to go out, how good I was going to feel out there,” Painter said. “I wanted to go out there and at least get a couple innings in to take that off of the relievers.”

The Phillies will look to rebound on Monday when they open up a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at home. Cristopher Sánchez will take the mound for his fourth start of the year.