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Citi Field Continues to Own the Phillies
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Citi Field has turned into a house of horrors for the Philadelphia Phillies, and it continued on Monday night in a 13-3 loss to the Mets.
The Phillies built an early 3-0 lead, but Cristopher Sanchez gave it back in a brutal 4th inning sequence. He got Starling Marte to ground into a double play, leaving two outs and nobody on. Pete Alonso singled to left field and it all went downhill from there. A balk, followed by a wild pitch, led to a Mark Vientos RBI double, a Brandon Nimmo RBI single, a walk, and another RBI single to knot the game at three.
The Phillies did not score another run the rest of the night, but they sure gave up a few more.
Citi Field has been a nightmare for the Phillies. Including two games in the 2024 postseason, they’ve lost eight straight in Queens. It seems like everything goes wrong the second they step foot in that stadium. It was a balk that Sanchez accepted to avoid a possible injury that started the cascading:
“I just slipped when I was going towards home and I slipped in a way that I couldn’t throw the ball because I could have hurt myself, so I just stopped,” Sanchez told reporters after the game. “I think it threw me off my rhythm a little bit.”
Monday night was the first time Sanchez has allowed more than four runs in a game since August 11th, 2024 vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s been an ace this season. Even the Citi Field woes got to the Phillies star, which pushed him to let out some frustration you don’t usually see from the lefty:
Mix in a couple errors, a late throw by Bryce Harper on a rundown, a 1-9 night with runners in scoring position, and seven combined earned runs allowed by Jordan Romano and Joe Ross, and have you have your 13-3 loss. It was ugly. The Phillies have to move on and worry about Tuesday night’s matchup.
Even if they won’t admit it, everybody in that clubhouse knows they play different baseball once they get to Citi Field. They’ve lost 22 of their last 28 games there.
Was Monday night the last time we’ll see Romano in a Phillies uniform? I feel like I’ve said that after every appearance, but the end of that outing just felt a little different than others. He looked more defeated than ever. He cut his hair over the weekend. Maybe the goal of that was a vibe switch. It didn’t work.
“The velocity fluctuated again,” Rob Thomson said of Romano. “His last pitch of the inning was 97. The slider was just backing up…We tried to get him some rest. Now we got to check on him tomorrow and see what’s going on.”
The Phillies’ $8.5M offseason acquisition now holds an 8.23 ERA on the season. It’s the third-worst ERA by a Phillies reliever (min. 40 innings) in franchise history. It’s gotten to the point where you feel bad for Romano, the human. The Phillies need to cut ties, accept it didn’t work, and move on.
The best part about baseball? You get to do it all again the next day. The Phillies still hold a 6-game lead in the NL East, and it won’t dip below that number unless they’re swept. With their current level of play at Citi Field, it’s gotten to the point where 1 of 3 at this stadium isn’t even the biggest letdown.
Luke Arcaini writes about the Phillies for Crossing Broad, covers the Phillies for FOX Sports The Gambler, and co-hosts "Phillies Digest" on YouTube. The wave is the worst thing in all of sports. Contact: lukearcaini8@gmail.com