PHILADELPHIA – The Phillies’ postseason and how long they last in it was always going to come down to two things: Matchups and how their offense performed.
Certainly there are other factors. They lost ace Zack Wheeler to season-ending surgery and acquired one of the best closers in the game in Jhoan Duran.
But the Phillies weren’t able to run down the Milwaukee Brewers for the No. 1 seed, meaning they had to play the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series – the toughest possible matchup.
And that meant the Phillies were going to have to hit, which they haven’t done save for short bursts in the first two games of the series.
They scored three runs in the second inning of Game 1 but were shut out the rest of the way in a 5-3 loss. They followed that up Monday by being shut out through the first seven innings before their late rally fell just short in a 4-3 loss.
It’s been a common theme
The Dodgers have scored at least four runs in 11 straight postseason games. Meanwhile, the Phillies have scored more than three runs just once in their last seven postseason games.
Lack of offense was a big reason they lost playoff series to the New York Mets (2024), Arizona Diamondbacks (2023) and Houston Astros (2022) in their last three postseason runs.
If they can’t complete a miracle comeback and beat the Dodgers three straight, it will be the main culprit again.
You can’t go 14 straight innings in the postseason without a run and expect a positive result.
It sounds simple, but you can’t win if you don’t score.
The Phillies – on paper – have a lineup that can score, but the top of the order of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper is 2-for-21.
“I have to do a better job with guys on base, just have to get it done,” said Harper. “We’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re missing pitches over the plate, and they’re making pitches when they need to.
“We just have to flip the script.”
Turner grounded out with the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth inning Monday. Harper left runners on base in his last two at-bats.
“We’re not going to quit until they tell us to go home,” said Turner. “We have a great team. We’ve won three games in a row before, we’ve swept good teams, we’ve played good baseball. We’ve played decent the last few games, we just haven’t played well enough to get the win. We’re not beating ourselves.
“I feel like the traffic is out there, the walks are there, guys are having decent at-bats. We just have to keep the line moving. They have a great pitching staff. We have to do our best to adjust to it and keep going.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around. The bullpen has been leaky for a second straight postseason, Trea Turner’s off-target throw home in the seventh inning led to all four Dodger runs and Rob Thomson’s managerial decisions haven’t worked out – opting to bunt Bryson Stott with the tying run on second base in the ninth inning of Game 2 made little sense and caused the Phillies to miss an opportunity to tie or win the game.
His decision to start Aaron Nola instead of Ranger Suarez is Game 3 comes with enormous risk.
But this postseason was always going to be about the offense, and so far that has been the main storyline again.
“There’s still a lot of baseball, but they’re pitching really well right now, that’s been the story and they have quality starters,” said Schwarber. “We have great game plans and it comes down to us trying to find a way to get on base any way possible and hit any mistake and get some momentum.”
The 162-game grind sets you up for the postseason, but nothing that happens over the previous six months matters if you don’t hit in October.
The Phillies are failing to do so, again. And if they flame out, it could mean president Dave Dombrowski takes a hard look at shaking up the roster beyond the promotion of Triple-A standout Justin Crawford.
Schwarber may believe there’s a lot of baseball left to be played, but nine more innings like the last 18 – not to mention what happened in previous years – means the Phillies will fall short of their ultimate goal again.
And they won’t have to look hard to find the reason why.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.