ATLANTA — It was already hard to chart a path for the Phillies to the postseason, but that route became even more unimaginable in the seventh inning Wednesday night when Odubel Herrera failed to retrieve a routine grounder in center field.
The Phillies had to practically win their remaining five games if they were going to force their way into the playoffs. Their playoff odds were so thin that there was no margin for error, let alone unforgivable errors in a one-run game that turned into a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
Herrera overran a grounder by Ozzie Albies as the ball skipped off his glove and allowed Jorge Soler to move from second to third. The Phillies were down by just a run, but any hopes of a rally would soon be extinguished when the Braves followed Herrera’s miscue by scoring four runs off Jose Alvarado and Hector Neris.
The loss pushed the Phillies to the brink of elimination with four games remaining as Atlanta’s magic number dropped to just one. If the Phillies are unable to avoid a sweep on Thursday, they’ll be forced to watch the Braves clinch their fourth straight National League East title.
Nola’s night
Aaron Nola allowed three runs on seven hits in six innings in what is likely the final start of his season. If so, Nola finished an underwhelming year with a 4.63 ERA in 32 starts.
He struck out four and walked two on Wednesday night and allowed two first-inning runs that seemed deflating. Soler and Freddie Freeman started the first with singles and the Phillies soon fell into a two-run hole. Nola’s frustrating season would soon be finished.
Running out of gas
Neris has been the team’s steadiest reliever for nearly three months, but the effects of a heavy workload seem to finally be setting in.
Neris retired just one of the four batters he faced in the seventh as he allowed a two-run double and issued two straight walks before Joe Girardi lifted him. Neris, who was pitching on consecutive nights, has appeared in 72 games this season, which is tied for the fifth-highest total in the majors.
Neris’ strikeout of Adam Duvall was the 516th of his career, which is just three shy of Ron Reed for the franchise record by a relief pitcher. Neris, the team’s longest-tenured player. is a free agent after the season and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be back in 2022. That record would mean a lot, but it’s worth wondering how much more he can be pushed in the season’s final four games.
Harper slowing down
Bryce Harper willed the Phillies into playoff contention by playing every day for the last 10 weeks, but he may be reaching his limitations. Harper went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and has seven strikeouts in his last nine at-bats.
Harper has started 68 straight games and the Phillies have not gone a day without him in the lineup since June 27 as his last missed game was the first part of a doubleheader. His ability to play every day only helps his MVP case. But with the Phillies nearing elimination, it could be time to find rest for Harper.
No place for Bohm
The Phillies were facing one of baseball’s toughest left-handers yet Girardi still drew up a lineup that included Didi Gregorius and not Alec Bohm. Gregorius entered Wednesday hitting just .155 against lefties, the 12th-lowest average in the majors.
It seemed like a chance to plug in the right-handed Bohm by either starting him at third with Gregorius at shortstop or moving Ronald Torreyes to short with Bohm at third. Instead, Girardi started Torreyes at third with Gregorius at short as the Phillies plan to use Bohm this week as a bench player after promoting him Tuesday from triple A.
“I told you what he was here to be,” Girardi said. “We brought him in to use him off the bench. We’ll stick with that.”
Maybe Girardi pulled the right strings. Gregorius singled in the second inning off Max Fried and Gregorius followed with an RBI single.
