“They’re not scared,” Harper says after the Phillies lose another series to the D-backs Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
PHOENIX — Cristopher Sanchez has been a reliable piece of the Phillies’ puzzle all season and they liked Sunday’s matchup with their left-hander facing a Diamondbacks lineup without Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Joc Pederson, but Sanchez was as hittable as ever in a 12-5 loss.
Sanchez, who had a two-run lead in the first inning, allowed one in the first, four in the third and two in the fifth, and faced trouble and traffic every step of the way. He failed often at the plate with his sinker and changeup and allowed 12 hits, four more than his previous career high.
“They left a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate and created a lot of foul balls that created a lot of pitches,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They didn’t really hit their changeup, but they did a good job of fouling it off and when they did hit it, it found a hole somewhere.”
Sanchez stranded two runners with no outs in the second inning, striking out Jake McCarthy on a changeup to end the threat, but the bottom of the third was his undoing. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. started the comeback with a single on an 0-2 pitch at his ankles. Josh Bell singled up the middle, Eugenio Suarez hit an RBI double with equal force and the biggest play of the inning was a multi-hop grounder by rookie catcher Adrian Del Castillo that sailed just over the glove of a diving Bryce Harper for two more runs.
McCarthy later launched another ball just past Harper for a three-run triple.
“I felt like all of them were out of my reach,” Harper said. “I don’t know what happened in this series positioning-wise, but I think all of their hits went in. Sometimes that happens.”
The Phillies lost the four-game series and the seven-game season series to the Diamondbacks. They went 4-6 on their longest road trip of the year, one that Thomson said felt even longer than London-Boston-Baltimore in mid-June. They return home with a 69-49 record.
“Obviously, we’re not at our best,” Harper said. “We’re not playing like we should right now. We just have to get home, take advantage of this road trip, take advantage of the good things we can and get ready for Tuesday.”
There’s a good chance the Phillies will face the Diamondbacks again in October after losing to them in the 2023 National League Championship Series. Arizona is in fifth place in the National League, and since the playoffs don’t flip positions, the team with the better record is forced to play the winner of the 4-vs. 5 matchup in the NL Division Series.
The D-backs are the hottest team in baseball, having won 15 of 18 while averaging 7.2 runs per game.
“They’re not afraid,” Harper said. “They do it the right way, they play hard. They’ve got guys that walk, guys that hit, good pitchers, good bullpen. They’re a good team. They’ll show up and play the right way and win a lot of games because of that.”
The afternoon started well for the Phillies, with Trea Turner and Harper reaching base in the top of the first inning before a two-run double by Alec Bohm, his 43rd. Bohm is on pace for 59 doubles. No player since 1936 has reached 60.
It looked like they were going to get another run when Harper hit a deep Merrill Kelly pitch to the opposite field in the top of the third. It went to a similar spot to where Harper had homered earlier in the series, but it deflected off the deepest part of an angled left-field wall and Gurriel leaped like Spiderman to steal it. It would have been a homer in 20 of the 30 parks.
The Phils left much to be desired against Kelly, who was making his first start since April 15 due to a shoulder injury. Kelly faced 20 batters and put seven of them in the lineup on 2-0 counts, but only one ended up with a hit.
The D-backs’ lead had grown to seven when the Phils made it a game with three runs and four straight hits in the top of the seventh and immediately responded with three more runs off Jose Alvarado in the bottom half.
The Phillies played well through the middle of their 10-game road trip, but started and finished poorly. They were blown out the first two nights in Seattle, but then blew a lead in a TKO loss. They rallied to win four of five games against the Mariners, Dodgers and Diamondbacks and then finished with three straight losses.
It’s not the fault of any one player. The Phillies’ lineup, starting pitching and bullpen work have not been all that consistent since the All-Star break. They’re searching for answers right now and made one lineup change on Sunday, trading away Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh. Both left-handers are mired in slumps, with Stott going 3-for-31 in August and Marsh going 0-for-20 in the seventh inning on Sunday.
The strides last season by all three — Bohm, Stott and Marsh — helped the Phillies rise as a team, but in 2024 only Bohm has continued to ascend.
Some fans won’t want to hear it, but Sunday briefly ended a difficult stretch of the schedule, perhaps the most challenging of the year for the Phillies. From July 22 to Aug. 11, the Phillies went 6-12 against the Twins, Guardians, Yankees, Mariners, Dodgers and D-backs, six teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
Next week at home is much lighter with two games against the Marlins and four against the Nationals.
“Everything,” Harper said of what the Phillies need to improve at home against lesser teams. “It’s still the big leagues, so we still have to play the game the right way. We just have to be better, on both ends of the ball.”
