The Philadelphia Phillies only had 1 run and 5 hits last night with ace, Zack Wheeler, and lose to the Atlanta Braves missing many their star players.
The Phillies offense looked confused and overmatched by Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez. The top three hitters in the lineup, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper went a combined 0-for-12 with 7 strikeouts tonight.
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler did his job. He allowed 2 runs in 6 innings pitched with 8 strikeouts. Left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado was awful allowing 1 run and walking 4 in two-thirds of an inning.
Manager Rob Thomson should not chose to pitch the struggling Alvarado a chance to pitch in a high-leverage situation and then stuck with too long.
This what another questionable move by the teflon Phillies Manager. On Sunday, down two runs to the Washington Nationals with no outs and a man on first, he chose not have Bryce Harper pinch hit for Cal Stevenson.
Stevenson went on to ground into a double play. Thomson continues to mismanage this team. Now, granted the players need to get the job done, but I believe Thomson’s stubbornness and shortcomings as a strategist hurts this team.
This Phillies team looks lost and primed to blow a division they led by ten games. They are not as good as they looked in The first two months. It’s possible that the Phillies were playing over their heads in April and May.
The Phillies have two more games in Atlanta and then go Kansas City to face the Royals, then head back home to host the Houston Astros and Braves (again).
That is a daunting stretch of games. Hopefully, they can get back on track. The star players need to come through for them to accomplish this.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. Photo courtesy of nytimes.com
