The bullpen coughed up a lead in the sixth inning of Game 1, while the club blew a 7-0 advantage in Game 2.
The club now sits 9-12 in the NL East.
“It's frustrating,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “Really frustrating. We had a chance to win two games. We lost leads in both games late. And those are frustrating. But you have to turn the page. You have to get ready to go play tomorrow. You have to put this behind you.”
The bullpen ERA sits at an unsightly 8.07 and is in desperate need of help. Their best reliever to date, Jose Alvarez, left Game 1 after taking a liner off the groin. He'll be okay he said after the contest, but he's going to be sidelined for the next couple of days.
Something has to give.
“Well, that's Matt [Klentak’s] job and people above me,” Girardi said. “So my job is to manage the players that they give me and to get the best out of them. So I will continue to try to do that. You know, everyone talks about trades during the Trade Deadline and it always takes two to tango -- if you're going to do something, I mean. So I'll let them handle that and I'll manage the guys they give me.”
Vince Velasquez pitched into the sixth inning of Game 2 with a five-run lead but surrendered a solo shot to Rowdy Tellez and a single to Teoscar Hernandez before being lifted. Connor Brogdon and Hector Neris than combined to allow five runs, two earned, over 2/3's of an inning.
“It’s baseball,” shortstop Didi Gregorius said. “No one can predict the best bullpen. It doesn’t matter what team you’re on. I’ve been on teams that have been like this, too. It’s just a stretch. Everything is passing. Everything has to pass at some point. I trust in these guys. We have to go out there and keep fighting, and I trust in these guys.”
The Phillies head to Atlanta to open a three-game set on Friday. The Braves currently hold a three-game lead over the Phils in the NL East. Aaron Nola will start the series opener for the Phils, opposing Max Fried.
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