A disastrous return to Citi Field for Phillies' scuffling offense
A disastrous return to Citi Field for Phillies' scuffling offense originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK — The last possible result the Phillies would have wanted from their first series back at Citi Field since the 2024 NLDS was exactly what took place this week in Queens.
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Loss. Loss. Walk-off loss.
Monday night, the Phillies were held scoreless until the top of the ninth inning and fell, 5-4.
Tuesday night, they were again unable to pick up the big hit needed to knot up a close game and the Mets broke it open late, just as they did the night before and three times last October. The Phillies lost, 5-1.
Wednesday afternoon, with ace Zack Wheeler on the mound and needing a win to salvage the three-game set, the Phillies fell behind in the second inning, tied it in the fourth and lost, 4-3, in the bottom of the 10th after taking a brief lead.
The Phillies are 13-12 and already trail the Mets by five games in the NL East without a chance to make up direct ground until hosting them the third week of June.
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The offense isn't hitting for power or coming through much situationally. The Phillies have one home run in their last five games, Bryson Stott's three-run shot off Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning Monday night. The Phils had just three extra-base hits in the three losses to the Mets and 19 of their last 20 hits have been singles.
It's not as if they've been without chances. The Phillies have had plenty of baserunners but haven't been able to advance them. They're 7-for-their-last-34 (.206) with men on base and one of those hits didn't produce a run late Wednesday afternoon when Max Kepler singled with two outs in the eighth and Nick Castellanos was thrown out at home by Juan Soto. The Phillies ran out of time to challenge whether Castellanos' fingers touched the plate just before the tag but he appeared to be out anyway.
Castellanos put the Phils ahead in the top of the 10th with an RBI single past a drawn-in infield but the Phillies stranded the bases loaded with a pair of flyouts.
The Phils have been held scoreless in 26 of the last 30 innings. Bryce Harper went 1-for-11 against the Mets. Trea Turner was 1-for-12. Kyle Schwarber's home runs can mask other issues but he's gone deep just once in his last 60 plate appearances.
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'They've been through this before,' manager Rob Thomson said prior to the game. 'I feel like everybody around us is panicking. … We're fine.
'Guys' numbers historically, there's a lot of slug in that lineup. And we're gonna go through another time during the course of the year when we don't slug. And maybe one more time where we don't slug. It's just the way the game is.'
They'll board a plane to Chicago on Wednesday evening and the next task is no easier against a Cubs offense that has slugged a ton, entering the day with 24 more runs than any team in baseball.
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