ATLANTA — Just when you think the Phillies exhausted all possible ways of coughing up a lead, you look up and see the center fielder chasing after a throw from the catcher that got by not one, not two, but three defenders and rolled nearly to the warning track.
Bad News Phils?
It sure seems like it.
The news definitely wasn’t good Wednesday night. It wasn’t only that the Phillies fell yet again to the Ronald Acuña Jr.-less Atlanta Braves, 8-4, for their seventh loss in 10 games. It’s the way they lost — nay, the way they’ve been losing for the last five weeks — that’s troublesome.
With the sting (and stink) of a ninth-inning meltdown still fresh from the night before, the Phillies rallied to tie the game at 4-4 and chase Braves starter Charlie Morton in the top of the fifth. But the lead lasted only a few minutes, with the go-ahead run scoring on — get this — a wild pitch and a two-base error that could have been shared by four players.
For the record, the miscue was charged to center fielder Odúbel Herrera, counterbalancing his homer and RBI single earlier in the game. But the busted play began when catcher J.T. Realmuto jumped out from behind the plate to block a wild pitch from lefty José Alvarado and tried to throw out Dansby Swanson at second base.
The ball sailed over Jean Segura’s glove, then whizzed past the mitt of shortstop Bryson Stott, who was a tick late in coming over to back up the play. With Swanson frozen at second, the ball rolled under Herrera’s glove and kept going.
So did Swanson, who was able to coast across around third base and across home plate to give the Braves a 5-4 lead.
It wasn’t the only reason the Phillies lost. Ranger Suárez lacked his command and lasted only 4 1/3 innings. The Phillies went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Cleanup-hitting Nick Castellanos went 0-for-4 to extend his slump to 8-for-59.
But two days after Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski remarked that “our defense hasn’t cost us,” a key miscue was their undoing.
Tuesday night, it was center fielder Roman Quinn who didn’t take charge on Acuña’s fly ball that fell between him and Castellanos in the nightmarish ninth inning. Realmuto’s elusive throw allowed for the go-ahead run to score Wednesday night, and the Braves kept tacking on against the underbelly of the Phillies’ bullpen.
Two-strike trouble
Like fellow starter Kyle Gibson one night earlier, Suárez was hurt by two-strike hits, particularly in a four-run second inning.
Suárez tried to pitch inside with an 0-2 sinker to William Contreras, who skied a solo homer over the outstretched glove of leaping left fielder Kyle Schwarber. Two batters later, Orlando Arcia doubled to left field on a hanging 2-2 curveball.
And two batters after that, Ozzie Albies served a full-count fastball into right field for a two-run single that gave the Braves a 4-1 lead.
The two-strike trouble continued in the sixth inning when Swanson hit reliever Andrew Bellatti’s 2-2 fastball out to right field for a 7-4 Braves advantage.
Harper stays hot
Bryce Harper had three hits in his first three plate appearances, a continuation of a torrid stretch that began with an RBI double, RBI single, and go-ahead two-run homer in his last three times at bat Tuesday night.
The Braves finally retired Harper on a sixth-inning groundout.
But Harper, who finished with four hits, also got overaggressive on the bases and was thrown out trying to stretch a single to right field in the first inning.
Acuña scratched
The Braves scratched Acuña from their original lineup because of tightness in his right quadriceps.
It’s unclear whether Acuña will be able to play in the series finale Thursday. He awoke feeling sore, and with the field soaked by late-afternoon rain, the Braves didn’t want to risk additional injury.
