'Flush it': Phillies blow 7-run lead on frustrating night
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PHOENIX -- This had the look and feel of those late-season Phillies losses from recent years past.
Think 2020.
The Phillies blew a seven-run lead in Monday night¡¯s 13-7 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field. After they pummeled Arizona left-hander Madison Bumgarner for 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings, putting nine balls in play at 100 mph or more to take a 7-0 lead, the D-backs sent 22 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs in the fourth and fifth innings as Ranger Su¨¢rez, Cristopher S¨¢nchez and Andrew Bellatti could not throw strikes or get anybody out.
It was the first time the Phillies allowed 22 batters to hit in consecutive innings since a 16-4 loss in San Francisco on July 23, 1997. It was the first time this season a team scored six runs in consecutive innings.
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It was also the largest comeback victory in D-backs history.
¡°Frustrating. Frustrating for everybody,¡± Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said. ¡°We got into the fourth and all of a sudden, Ranger lost the [strike zone], and they were hitting holes and barreling him up a little bit. We couldn't get out of it. Then Sanchy went out in the fifth, and same thing. He couldn't find [the strike zone]. I don't know what it was. Yeah, it's frustrating. But it's only one loss. We have to come back tomorrow and rebound, just like these guys have done all year, really.¡±
The Phillies still hold the second NL Wild Card spot, but they lost a game in the standings to the Padres and Brewers.
¡°This team has been playing such great baseball the last three months of the season,¡± Phillies second baseman Jean Segura said. ¡°This one, you have to take it and throw it away and come back and continue to play the game we¡¯ve been playing the last three months. I think the guys have been doing a really good job as a team. Move forward.¡±
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Su¨¢rez had a no-hitter through three innings, when he allowed four consecutive one-out hits to cut the Phillies¡¯ lead to 7-2. He struck out Jake McCarthy for the second out. D-backs rookie Corbin Carroll, who made his MLB debut, hit a ground ball up the middle. Segura tried to backhand it, but he could not make the play.
Segura¡¯s error allowed another run to score.
¡°I didn¡¯t do my job today,¡± he said.
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Su¨¢rez walked Geraldo Perdomo to load the bases. Carson Kelly¡¯s double cleared them.
It was 7-6.
It was the second consecutive start in which Su¨¢rez lost his command in the middle innings. He walked a career-high three batters in a single inning on Aug. 23 in a victory over the Reds. Su¨¢rez has thrown 123 2/3 innings this season. He threw a career-high 124 1/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2018.
¡°I¡¯m not concerned at all, but I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on,¡± Su¨¢rez said through the team¡¯s interpreter. ¡°I feel healthy and to me, that¡¯s the main thing -- to be healthy. I expect to pitch into the end of the season and into the postseason. That¡¯s my goal.¡±
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S¨¢nchez immediately found trouble in the fifth. He allowed a leadoff double to Ketel Marte, then walked Christian Walker and Emmanuel Rivera to load the bases. S¨¢nchez drilled McCarthy in the back with a 92 mph sinker with one out to yield the game-tying run. Carroll ripped a double for his first big league hit to score two runs and give the D-backs a 9-7 lead.
Bellatti replaced S¨¢nchez. He walked Perdomo to load the bases for the second consecutive inning. Perdomo entered the game with a .548 OPS, which ranked 143rd out of 144 qualified batters in MLB. Kelly¡¯s single to right-center field scored another run to make it 10-7. Bellatti walked Marte and Walker with the bases loaded to score Arizona¡¯s 11th and 12th runs, respectively.
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Su¨¢rez, S¨¢nchez and Bellatti threw a combined 91 pitches in the fourth and fifth.
It was the second time this year the Phillies blew a seven-run lead. They blew a seven-run lead in an 8-7 loss to the Mets on May 5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets scored a run in the sixth and seven runs in the ninth to win that one.
Monday¡¯s collapse wasn't exactly new, but it wasn¡¯t any easier to stomach.
¡°You just have to flush it and forget about it,¡± Thomson said.
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