Phillies thoroughly outplayed, in danger of moving backward again

Phillies thoroughly outplayed, in danger of moving backward again originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — If they’re going to save their season, if they’re going to avoid wasting another year in the primes of Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, Trea Turner and at least a handful of others, the Phillies will need to win two in a row over the Mets.

Sounds relatively simple, but it’s anything but right now. The Phils’ backs are against the wall and they’re in danger of moving backward again in the postseason after losing 7-2 to the Mets Tuesday night in Game 3 of the NLDS.

Once again, the Phillies’ lineup was dead silent for most of the game as the Mets built a lead on solo home runs by Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker in the second and fourth innings and extended it against the Phillies’ bullpen.

But this time there was no sixth-inning magic. The Phils tied Game 2 in the sixth with back-to-back homers from Harper and Nick Castellanos, and the top of the sixth in Game 3 looked like it would produce another rally when Sean Manaea opened it by walking Kyle Schwarber and Turner.

Harper has played the hero in these spots so frequently the last three years but couldn’t on Tuesday night, striking out in the sixth as part of an 0-for-3 night against the lefty Manaea.

“We had some situations, me personally, and didn’t come through,” Harper said.

The next hitter, Castellanos, lined into a double play and just like that, the potential comeback was thwarted.

“I think that’s just the situation, he’s trying to do too much,” manager Rob Thomson said of the Harper at-bat. “Trying to put the club on his shoulders. And again, it’s about passing the baton and relying on your teammates.”

The Phils scorched four balls off Manaea through the first four innings but had nothing to show for it, with all four leaving the bat at over 106 mph but resulting in outs. That’s little solace, though, and is basically meaningless this time of year when there isn’t enough time for good luck or bad luck to normalize.

They also had their share of poor at-bats, most notably at the bottom of the order with Austin Hays tapping out weakly and striking out twice, Edmundo Sosa flailing at pitches nowhere close and Johan Rojas doing the same.

Their two runs scored when they already trailed by six.

Aaron Nola started and had an outing like so many throughout his career — locked-in throughout most of his first two trips through the order with it overshadowed by a couple of longballs. Alonso’s came on a first-pitch high heater on the outside corner. He hit it where it was pitched, sending it over the wall in right field for his third opposite-field homer of the playoffs.

Winker took Nola deep on a high 93 mph fastball over the middle. Frustrated about missing a spot in the midst of so many successful at-bats, Nola slammed his glove in the dugout after the fourth inning, a rarity given his typical stoicism.

Nola unraveled in the bottom of the sixth, allowing a leadoff single to Mark Vientos and walking Brandon Nimmo and Alonso to load the bases. Orion Kerkering entered in relief and nearly escaped the jam unscathed but gave up a two-run single to Starling Marte after two quick outs that served as the dagger.

The Phillies are a loss away from being upset by a division rival and sent home in the NLDS, just like they did to the Braves the last two Octobers. The Phils won two straight games 32 different times in the regular season but this will be the most difficult streak of the bunch to pull off. The Mets are as confident as a roster can be after surging into the playoffs and beating up on teams ahead of them in the standings for a month.

Thomson and the Phillies talk all the time about the team’s ability to take a punch and respond. If they can’t do it again Wednesday, the group that tries in 2025 won’t look the same.

Thomson spoke to the team after the loss.

“I told them it’s the most resilient club I’ve ever been around,” he said. “That’s what they’re all about. They’re all about toughness and fighting and playing together. That’s what we need to do. Just focus on one game.”