MLB Wild Card: Phillies beaten down by Blue Jays in fifth straight loss

Blue Jays obliterate Phillies, who just can’t beat good teams right now originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies opened their final homestand of the season in familiar fashion, losing for the 16th time in their last 20 games against teams over .500.

They just haven’t been able to play up to their competition since the All-Star break, fattening up on clubs like the Nationals, Marlins, Pirates and Reds.

The offense made a spirited effort to come back from two humongous deficits with a four-run fifth inning and a five-run eighth but still fell well short in an 18-11 loss.

It was a brutal night for the Phils’ pitching staff, which allowed the Blue Jays to reach base in 27 of 53 plate appearances and score in eight of nine innings.

Kyle Gibson did not pitch well but was also hurt by his defense. Bryson Stott threw a ball into the dugout in the first inning for one of his two errors. The Blue Jays scored three in the opening frame on Matt Chapman’s homer.

They scored two more in the second inning, which began with Kyle Schwarber losing a can of corn in the lights for a Danny Jansen “double.”

Stott committed a key error in the sixth when the Phillies needed a shutdown inning, throwing a ball into the ground on a routine bouncer by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It led to an unearned run.

The Blue Jays had seven doubles, a triple, two homers and 21 hits on the night. The only two times in the last 78 years the Phillies have allowed that many runs, hits and extra-base hits were a 24-4 loss to the Mets in 2018 and the famous 23-22 win over the Cubs in 1979.

Amid all the hard-hit balls off of their pitching staff, the Phillies lost center fielder Brandon Marsh, who exited with knee discomfort after running and jumping into the wall in left-center on a double by Jansen.

Dalton Guthrie replaced Marsh and hit his first major-league home run in the fifth inning. Kyle Schwarber hit his 40th, a three-run shot in the eighth inning. J.T. Realmuto went 5 for 5 with a double and a ninth-inning solo shot, his 20th.

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This is an extremely important homestand for the Phillies, who are 80-67 with 15 games left. They have one more game with the Blue Jays and four with the Braves this week. Both opponents have a ton to play for — Toronto wants to maintain its spot atop the AL wild-card standings to preserve home-field advantage in the first round, while the Braves are within a game of the Mets for the division lead and a first-round bye.

The Phils will face good starting pitching all week. On Wednesday, they’ll face Kevin Gausman, who has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the majors. They get a slight break by missing Spencer Strider (oblique), but it’s little respite as they’ll face Max Fried instead.

Zack Wheeler makes his return Wednesday after missing five starts with forearm inflammation. It’s expected to be an abbreviated start — two or three innings — before he eventually gives way to Noah Syndergaard.

This has to turn around quickly for the Phillies to avoid another September collapse. They’ve lost five in a row and are 7-9 this month.

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