The pressure is rising at Citizens Bank Park. The vise is tightening. Is that Chico Ruiz out there on Darien Street? Nah. It couldn’t be. Right?
Entering the final three games of the regular season, the Phillies still haven’t been able to clinch a wild-card playoff berth.
And, now, you have to wonder …
Gulp.
The Phillies were 5-1 losers to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night. The loss prevented them from even thinking about having a celebratory champagne nightcap. With three games to play, all against American League East champ Tampa Bay, the Phils’ lead over Arizona for the final wild-card spot is just two games. The Diamondbacks won their fifth straight game Thursday. They play their final three at San Diego against a Padres team that is bearing down on a wild-card spot.
The Phils still control their own destiny, but they’ve followed a 21-7 August with a 9-12 September and have been held to two runs the last two games.
After Thursday night’s loss, Trea Turner was asked if he was surprised the Phillies are having such trouble locking down a playoff spot.
“No,” he said. “It’s how it’s been all year for us, really. It’s been a tough year, ups and downs. We’re still in a spot to take care of business, win a couple of games and get in. We haven’t done it yet, but we still have a chance, so get ready for tomorrow and try to play our best baseball.”
The Phils could still sew up a playoff spot Friday, depending on the outcome of Thursday night’s Padres-Dodgers game out West. If the Padres were to lose that game, the Phils could clinch with a win over Tampa Bay. It’s all one big Rubik’s cube, but the Phils still have a hand on their own fate.
After Thursday night’s game, manager Don Mattingly was asked if the team was having trouble dealing with mounting pressure.
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said, mentioning how difficult an opponent the 100-win Brewers are.
A moment later, however, Mattingly conceded, “We should be feeling some pressure. I know I feel some pressure. But it’s that time of year. You’re trying to win games.”
Turner said the team was feeling more frustration than pressure.
“We know how good we can be and at times we haven’t played up to that standard,” he said. “It feels like one thing doesn’t go your way and it’s, ‘Here we go again.’ I feel like we’ve had good at-bats and hit some balls hard the last two days but we just haven’t scored enough runs. That’s the frustrating part. Putting up one run is not good enough.”
On top of the loss to Milwaukee and all the stress caused by it, the Phils may have lost second baseman Luis Arraez to an injury at the worst possible time.
Arraez left the game after suffering a sprained left ankle while trying to avoid a tag at first base in the sixth inning. There was no immediate update on his condition, but it didn’t look good. He required the assistance of team athletic trainers as he hobbled off the field. While the Phillies got good news Thursday on Jesus Luzardo – the lefty, on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, threw a bullpen session and could be ready for the first round of the playoffs – the timing on the Arraez injury is not ideal. The playoffs begin on Tuesday.
Maybe the Phillies will be there.
Maybe they won’t.
“We’re in the driver’s seat,” Bryce Harper said. “We’ve got to win. We’ve got to take care of our business. We can’t really worry about what any other team is doing. We’ve just got to keep going. We’ve got Tampa coming in. They’re a great team. We’ve got to go out and play our baseball. We can’t worry about what anyone is feeling or what’s going on. We’ve just got to win. Arizona did their job. They went into Colorado and swept them. Now, we’ve got to do ours.”
The Phils got a nice start from rookie Andrew Painter and a scoreless inning from fellow rookie Alex McFarlane on Thursday night. The game was tied at 1-1 entering the eighth when reliever Jose Alvarado gave up a walk and two singles to the first three hitters. All three ended up scoring as the Brewers took a 4-1 lead. The crowd of 37,177, which arrived hoping to see the Phillies move to within a game of a playoff berth, ended up booing. The Brewers tagged on another run in the ninth. More boos.
In his final regular season start, Painter allowed just one run over six innings. He gave up five hits, three walks and struck out eight.
Painter finished his first season in the majors with a 5.41 ERA in 126 1/3 innings. While the overall ERA was far from stellar, there were signs of promise. Painter was sent to the minors with a 7.06 ERA on June 17. At the time, his fastball was getting pounded and his confidence was wounded. No one knew if the former first-round draft pick would even be back in the majors this season.
But Painter made some fixes at Triple A. He ditched his splitter, added a new changeup and cleaned up some mechanical flaws in his delivery that allowed him to drive off the rubber toward home plate more. Soon, his fastball ticked up. He returned to the majors on July 31 and made 11 starts, including Thursday night. In those starts, he recorded a 3.65 ERA in 61 2/3 innings, struck out 62 and walked 23.
Painter struck out eight on Thursday night, including three in the first inning, all on changeups. In all, he got six strikeouts on the pitch. His fastball hit 97.7 mph and averaged 96 mph. Painter might not start a game in the postseason, should the Phils get there, but he’ll surely be on the roster and could be a factor out of the bullpen.
Beyond that, the second half of his rookie season should end up being a confidence booster for the 23-year-old right-hander heading into next season.
“He’s going to be good,” Mattingly said. “He’s going to be really good. I think Philadelphia is going to like this kid for a while.”