Wild ending in San Francisco highlights Phillies' need for bullpen boost

SAN FRANCISCO – Brandon Marsh replayed the once-in-a-lifetime play in his mind over and over again. He kept asking himself the same questions.

Could he have done something differently?

Will he ever see this again?

The Phillies suffered a crushing 4-3 walk-off loss to the Giants on Tuesday night at Oracle Park. San Francisco had runners at the corners with one out in the ninth, when light-hitting catcher Patrick Bailey crushed Jordan Romano’s 93.9 mph fastball to the top of the right-center-field wall. The ball kicked unexpectedly to the left, past Marsh and rolled along the warning track toward center. Bailey circled the bases for a three-run, inside-the-park home run to win it.

“You could play 100 more years here and I don’t think a ball hits right there on that spot,” Marsh said.

It was the first inside-the-park, walk-off homer in Major League Baseball since Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin’s on Aug. 19, 2016. It was the first time the Phillies lost on an inside-the-park, walk-off homer since Brooklyn’s Pete Reiser hit one on May 11, 1946, at Ebbets Field.

It was unbelievable.

“It’s one of those plays where baseball is just kicking you in the face,” Marsh said. “It hit one of the worst spots it could have possibly hit. It took the complete kick where Nick [Castellanos] and I weren’t at. An inch here, an inch there, a different kick, it just hit the perfect spot and shot off across the warning track where the grass couldn’t kill it. It just kept rolling.”

The nearly impossible result only amplified pre-existing concerns about the Phillies’ shaky bullpen. The front office knows it needs to acquire a lockdown, late-inning reliever before the July 31 Trade Deadline.

Tuesday’s meltdown only emphasized the importance of those efforts.

Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker rejoined the rotation on Tuesday, but he was limited to four innings and 63 pitches after spending more than a month in the bullpen.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson had to find a way to get 15 more outs. Tanner Banks, Max Lazar and Matt Strahm each threw scoreless innings as the Phillies carried a 3-1 lead into the eighth. Right-hander Daniel Robert started the eighth because Thomson wanted Romano to pitch the ninth.

“We got kind of caught back in a corner because we didn’t have [Orion] Kerkering,” Thomson said.

It was an interesting comment because the Phillies said they pulled Kerkering from Monday’s game after he threw 25 pitches to allow him to potentially pitch on Tuesday.

But the inexperienced Robert got himself into immediate trouble, putting the first two runners on base. He recorded an out, then Thomson brought Romano into the game.

Romano got a popout and flyout to end the inning.

“I felt like he could probably finish it out,” Thomson said.

Romano tried for his first five-out save since June 19, 2022, making his first appearance of more than an inning since May 13, 2024.

The move carried risk, but the Phillies had no choice.

“There’s always kind of a dump in energy getting out of that inning, but he was 95-97 in the ninth,” Thomson said.

“I’ve done that a ton in the past,” Romano said. “It’s not that difficult to do. I just need to do a better job of it.”

Romano allowed a leadoff double and one-out single to put runners at the corners. His fastball to Bailey was his slowest of the night.

Bailey barreled it.

Romano signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Phillies in December. They hoped he could help replace Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez, who left in free agency. But Romano is 1-4 with a 7.44 ERA in 36 appearances.

He is the first Phillies pitcher to have a 7.00 ERA or higher in his first 36 appearances in a season since Brad Lidge (7.09 ERA) in 2009. No Phillies pitcher since at least 1912 has had higher than a 7.44 ERA in his first 36 appearances.

“It’s tough,” Romano said. “I’m not contributing to wins, losing games like that. I’m definitely being tested a lot this year for sure. I’m just not pitching well. There’s no time to sulk. I’m trying to figure this out. I’m trying to get better.

“It’s just like, get on a decent roll, then it’s big bad outing. Get on a decent roll, another big bad outing. It’s just kind of been super frustrating.”

Romano’s struggles are a big reason why the front office must find a way to upgrade the bullpen. The Phillies are trying to win a World Series this year.

“It’s over, it doesn’t feel good, but we’ve just got to keep moving on and worry about tomorrow,” Kyle Schwarber said.