PHILADELPHIA — At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Joe Girardi met with reporters in the Phillies’ dugout and dropped a double-whammy. Rhys Hoskins is likely out for the season (Hoskins later confirmed that he is), and Zach Eflin had to be scratched from a start.
“It’s been quite a day,” Girardi said.
And it didn’t get better for him once the sun went down.
With a chance to make hay on the division-leading Atlanta Braves, the Phillies got hit by another haymaker from the Diamondbacks, 8-7, at Citizens Bank Park. At 63-64, the Phillies are below .500 for the first time since Aug. 1, and 5½ games out of first place, their largest deficit since June 26.
Remember last week when the Phillies got swept by the National League’s worst team in Arizona? Well, the Diamondbacks picked up where they left off, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the second inning that grew to 4-0 in the fourth against Matt Moore, the fill-in after Eflin’s knee flared up a few hours before the game.
Trailing 8-2 in the ninth inning, the Phillies made it interesting by capitalizing on two errors, a passed ball, and two-out RBI hits by Bryce Harper and Didi Gregorius en route to scoring five runs. But Brad Miller struck out with the tying run on first base.
Never mind that the Diamondbacks are on pace for 107 losses. The Phillies turn them into the 1927 Yankees. In four games between the teams in the last 10 days, the Phillies have been outscored by 21-13 and held to a total of 21 hits.
This time, the offense got muted early by Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen, a product of Bishop Eustace Prep. Gallen gave up a two-out triple to Travis Jankowski in the second inning and a two-out double to Harper in the third. Both times, the Phillies didn’t take advantage.
Moore, meanwhile, allowed four consecutive singles to open the Diamondbacks’ two-run second inning. He allowed a leadoff double to .127-hitting Drew Ellis and a two-run homer to Nick Ahmed in the fourth.
After losing three straight last week in Arizona, Zack Wheeler said the Phillies “need to take that personal.” J.T. Realmuto suggested games against rebuilding Arizona “seem a little more winnable.”
The Phillies have three more chances to actually win one.
Miller’s time?
When Hoskins recently missed 14 games in a row with a strained left groin, Miller made 11 starts at first base — and went 7-for-38 with 15 strikeouts.
Now that Hoskins is out for the season, is Miller the first baseman?
Neither Girardi nor general manager Sam Fuld was ready to make that pronouncement. And Miller went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to drop his season average to .213 and OPS to .710. Miller is 8-for-57 (.140) this month.
Girardi recently told infielder Freddy Galvis to take grounders at first base. But while Galvis has played shortstop, third base, second base, and even left field in his major-league career, he hasn’t played first.
The Phillies could also recall recently demoted third baseman Alec Bohm and move him to first. Bohm has made nine career starts at first base. But Girardi grew frustrated recently with Bohm’s defense and put him on the bench before the Phillies demoted him last Sunday.
Blue Jean
Jean Segura halved a four-run deficit in the fifth inning by lining a two-run home run into the right-field bleachers, his loudest hit in at least two weeks.
Before going deep, Segura was in a deep funk — 4-for-48, to be precise — that sent his batting average and OPS spiraling from .316 and .841, respectively, on Aug. 11 to .287 and .778.
Segura isn’t alone among the Phillies’ top right-handed hitters. Since Hoskins went on the injured list (the first time), Realmuto is 10-for-55 (.182) with 16 strikeouts and Andrew McCutchen is 6-for-45 (.133) with 17 whiffs.
Gallen’s homecoming
Gallen was making his 44th career start and first at Citizens Bank Park. He held the Phillies to three hits and two unearned runs in five innings. In two career starts against them, he hasn’t given up an earned run in 10 innings.
The St. Louis Cardinals drafted Gallen with the final pick in the third round in 2016 and traded him a year later to Miami, which dealt him to Arizona in 2019 for infielder Jazz Chisholm. The Phillies’ third-round pick in 2016: Cole Stobbe, an infielder who has a .203 average and .654 OPS in 1,033 minor-league at-bats, none above high-A.
Marte leaves
Center fielder Ketel Marte, the Diamondbacks’ best player, left the game in the sixth inning with what the team described as right hip discomfort. His replacement, Daulton Varsho, dropped a fly ball in the ninth inning.
