PHILADELPHIA – Phillies manager Rob Thomson suggested on Wednesday that he might tweak his lineup before Friday’s series opener against Arizona at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phils hadn’t scored a run in 20 consecutive innings. They ranked 24th in baseball, averaging 3.5 runs per game.
Something needed to change, but a seismic one seemed unlikely because it would have been viewed as a panic move just 13 games into the season. So, Thomson flipped Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh from the fourth and seventh spots, respectively.
It gave the Phillies four lefties in the first five spots of the lineup with Kyle Schwarber hitting second, Bryce Harper hitting third, Marsh hitting fourth and Bryson Stott hitting fifth. It will not be a long-term solution for the Phillies, but it could carry them through the weekend, with Arizona carrying no left-handers in the bullpen.
It worked fine in the first inning, when Trea Turner singled, Schwarber walked and Harper doubled to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Marsh then smacked an opposite-field, three-run home run to left-center field to make it 4-0.
But the Phillies returned to their San Francisco ways the rest of the way. They got only two more hits. They did not score again.
They have scored in just one of the last 29 innings they’ve played.
Meanwhile, Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo collapsed in the fifth inning to give Arizona the one-run lead. Luzardo had tossed four no-hit innings until Jose Fernandez started the inning with a single to left-center field.
Seven batters later, his night was over.