Taijuan Walker, Phillies’ offense continue brutal start to season in another blowout loss

PHILADELPHIA — Taijuan Walker cranked up the intensity of his pregame bullpen work in an effort to mitigate his struggles in the first inning. The change in routine didn’t really affect the in-game results.

Walker struggled from the get-go on Friday night, allowing two of his seven earned runs in the top of the first inning of a 9-0 Phillies loss to the Braves at Citizens Bank Park. The veteran right-hander gave up seven hits in four innings, walked three batters and surrendered two home runs in the opener of a three-game series between National League East foes. His ERA has ballooned to 9.16 in four starts.

“My goal is to try to give the team the best chance to win,” Walker said. “I haven’t done that yet, so it’s really just kind of staying within myself and trying to just attack the zone, limit the walks.”

The first three batters of the game reached base against Walker, who’s allowed 11 runs in four first innings so far this season. To his credit, it could have been worse. He limited Atlanta (13-7) to just the two runs on an RBI grounder by Ozzie Albies and a Mike Yastrzemski infield single that hit Walker.

But the Braves’ early punch put the Phillies’ (8-11) struggling offense in an immediate hole, and Atlanta continued to rough up Walker.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the second, Matt Olson hit a single to right fielder Adolis García, who fired to home plate on a hop. Catcher J.T. Realmuto could not field the throw, letting a run score. Atlanta’s Austin Riley hit a three-run home run in the next at-bat. An inning later, Dominic Smith homered off Walker to put the Braves up by seven.

“Having the offense down 7-0, it’s not easy for them, to ask them to climb back in,” Walker said. “I’m just not doing my part there and not giving them a chance.”

Walker’s time in the rotation could be up soon, as Zack Wheeler is scheduled for his fifth minor-league rehab start on Sunday. If it goes well, Wheeler could possibly return to the big leagues for his next outing. But even if he has to do one more appearance in the minors, a bullpen game or a spot starter from Triple-A could be a better option for Philadelphia with the way Walker has thrown the ball. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Walker is still scheduled to start again on Wednesday because they “haven’t discussed anything else.” But perhaps the team could benefit from talking about alternatives before then.

Phillies batters, underperforming against left-handers all season, went scoreless for six innings against southpaw Martín Pérez and scattered just six total hits on the night. Bryce Harper recorded three of them, going 3-for-4 with a triple, Realmuto singled twice and Trea Turner had a base hit in the bottom of the ninth.

As the Braves tacked on two more runs in the late innings, the Phillies went down quietly. Their run differential is the worst in the National League at -34. They’ll face another lefty starter in former NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on Saturday night, while ace Cristopher Sánchez will toe the rubber for Philadelphia after the club’s third loss in a row.

“It’s frustrating,” Thomson said of the team’s recent stretch. “We’re not used to doing that, especially in this ballpark. So we got to turn this thing around some way, somehow.”