Phillies

The Phillies Lost and the Season is Over

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Oct 9th, 2024 · 8:30 PM EDT

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Same story, different day. The Phillies offense failed to show up in Game 4 of the NLDS and they lost 4 to 1, dropping the series to the Mets three games to one.

It looked similar to Game 1, with the Phils tumultuously taking a one-run lead through the middle innings, where you knew the wheels were going to fall off at some point. In this case, it was a Francisco Lindor grand slam that served as the dagger.

What’s most aggravating is that the Mets were trying to Met early on and the Phillies didn’t take advantage. Ranger Suarez pulled off a miracle not once, but twice, to escape the 1st and 2nd unscathed. As the Mets stranded runners and failed to get on the board, the Phillies were only able to muster one run on a fielder’s choice error.

Notes on the game:

• bottom of the 1st: Suarez with two strikeouts to get out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in which Alec Bohm bobbled a grounder and was late throwing to first.
• bottom of the 2nd: Two strikeouts and a ground out, against escaping a bases loaded jam that Bohm helped create, this time with a brain fart at third.
• top of the 4th: Phillies put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out, only score one run on a Bohm infield bouncer that Mark Vientos mishandled.
• top of the 6th: Bryce Harper leads off with a double and the Phillies fail to score. Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto strike out swinging before Bryson Stott grounds out to first.
• bottom of the 6th: Jeff Hoffman disaster. His inning started with a wild pitch to move J.D. Martinez into scoring position after a leadoff single, then he hit Starling Marte to put another runner on base. A second wild pitch put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, then he walked the bases loaded before getting Francisco Alvarez to ground into a force out at home.
• top of the 9th: Kyle Schwarber strikes out with runners on 1st and 3rd, game over

Ugly.

On top of that, it may not have mattered, but they got hosed on this call in the top of the 8th:

Fair or foul? pic.twitter.com/IYr86nfhoC

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 10, 2024

A combination of missed opportunities and dodged bullets, but you can’t walk the tightrope like that for nine innings and win a game. Carlos Estevez tried to put out the 6th inning fire and threw a fastball right down the middle to one of Major League Baseball’s best players, which, in hindsight, wasn’t a great idea. Not Rob Thomson’s best game either, be it the lineup choices or bullpen management. There is plenty of blame to go around.

We’ll get into all of the various sidebars on Thursday morning, and oh boy are there gonna be a lot of those, since someone is getting fired, but let’s update Tuesday night’s statistic first:

• 2023 NLCS Game 6: Dbacks 5, Phillies 1
• 2023 NLCS: Game 7: Dbacks 4, Phillies 2
• 2024 NLDS Game 1: Mets 6, Phillies 2
• 2024 NLDS Game 2: Phillies 7, Mets 6
• 2024 NLDS Game 3: Mets 7, Phillies 2
• 2024 NLDS Game 4: Mets 4, Phillies 1

That’s two or fewer runs in five of the last six playoff games, four of which were at Citizens Bank Park. The bats have all gone cold at the same time now in three straight postseasons, resulting in a World Series defeat while up 2-1, an NLCS defeat while up 3-2, and an NLDS defeat to a 6 seed and division rival, playing with home field advantage. They had no business losing this series to this team, and won’t be able to live it down for a long time, if ever.