Every loss counts the same. That’s what they always say. But the punch to the collective gut seems a little more acute whenever it happens with a team’s best pitcher on the mound.
Or when the $330 million right fielder exits in the fourth inning with a sore right shoulder.
And the star catcher is lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth inning because his left wrist is aching.
How must it feel, then, when all three of those things happen simultaneously?
Let the Phillies tell you all about it. If it wasn’t bad enough Saturday night to make three errors and get shut out, 4-0, in Dunedin, Florida, by a Toronto Blue Jays starter who entered with a 10.54 ERA and four relievers — in an Aaron Nola start, no less — the Phillies also were forced to deal with Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto leaving the game with shoulder and hand injuries, respectively.
Harper, who has missed games already this season because of a balky back and a wrist bruised by the ricochet of a 97-mph fastball that hit him in the face, was replaced in the bottom of the fourth inning by overmatched utilityman Scott Kingery. It wasn’t immediately known how or why Harper came up with a right shoulder issue, but he did strike out in each of his first two at-bats against Blue Jays lefty Anthony Kay.
It was equally unclear how Realmuto’s hand flared up. A few weeks ago, he took a game-ending wild pitch off the hand in St. Louis and missed two games. It’s been a rough week for Realmuto. He took a foul ball off the left knee Tuesday night in Washington, causing him to sit out the next game, then came down with a fever and stomachache that left him in COVID-19 protocol on Thursday before he rejoined the Phillies in Dunedin on Friday.
With them, the Phillies weren’t generating much offense. Without them, they stood almost no chance.
Nola struggled to locate his curveball, especially in the early innings. He turned to his changeup, throwing it 40 times, more than any start in his career. The defense didn’t help him either. Shortstop Nick Maton’s miscue allowed a runner to take an extra base in the Jays’ two-run second inning. Alec Bohm and Jean Segura also gave the Blue Jays extra outs.
But Nola also put the Phillies in a three-run hole by allowing a solo homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning and two runs in the second on an RBI double by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a single by Ryan McGuire.
Nola held the Jays scoreless from there. But the Phillies’ offense shot blanks once again.
In pulling out a victory in the series opener Friday night, the Phillies were shut down for five innings by Blue Jays lefty Steven Matz before getting into the bullpen and taking advantage of four walks in a decisive five-run seventh inning.
But at least Matz is a rotation mainstay for the Blue Jays. Kay was making only his third start and the fifth of his career.
It was a more glaring indictment of the offense, then, that the Phillies managed one hit in four innings against Kay. Never mind that the leadoff man reached base in the first three innings. Neither Andrew McCutchen (walk), Rhys Hoskins (hit by pitch), nor Maton (single) were able to advance.
The Blue Jays pieced together the last five innings with their bullpen, and this time, it was more of the same for the Phillies. From Travis Bergen and A.J. Cole to Tyler Chatwood and Jordan Romano, the Phillies were held to a total of six hits,
