'Flush it': Phillies blow 7-run lead on frustrating night

August 30th, 2022

PHOENIX -- This had the look and feel of those late-season Phillies losses from recent years past.

Think 2020.

The Phillies blew a seven-run lead in Monday night’s 13-7 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field. After they pummeled Arizona left-hander Madison Bumgarner for 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings, putting nine balls in play at 100 mph or more to take a 7-0 lead, the D-backs sent 22 batters to the plate and scored 12 runs in the fourth and fifth innings as Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez and Andrew Bellatti could not throw strikes or get anybody out.

It was the first time the Phillies allowed 22 batters to hit in consecutive innings since a 16-4 loss in San Francisco on July 23, 1997. It was the first time this season a team scored six runs in consecutive innings.

It was also the largest comeback victory in D-backs history.

“Frustrating. Frustrating for everybody,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said. “We got into the fourth and all of a sudden, Ranger lost the [strike zone], and they were hitting holes and barreling him up a little bit. We couldn't get out of it. Then Sanchy went out in the fifth, and same thing. He couldn't find [the strike zone]. I don't know what it was. Yeah, it's frustrating. But it's only one loss. We have to come back tomorrow and rebound, just like these guys have done all year, really.”

The Phillies still hold the second NL Wild Card spot, but they lost a game in the standings to the Padres and Brewers.

“This team has been playing such great baseball the last three months of the season,” Phillies second baseman Jean Segura said. “This one, you have to take it and throw it away and come back and continue to play the game we’ve been playing the last three months. I think the guys have been doing a really good job as a team. Move forward.”

Suárez had a no-hitter through three innings, when he allowed four consecutive one-out hits to cut the Phillies’ lead to 7-2. He struck out Jake McCarthy for the second out. D-backs rookie Corbin Carroll, who made his MLB debut, hit a ground ball up the middle. Segura tried to backhand it, but he could not make the play.

Segura’s error allowed another run to score.

“I didn’t do my job today,” he said.

Suárez walked Geraldo Perdomo to load the bases. Carson Kelly’s double cleared them.

It was 7-6.

It was the second consecutive start in which Suárez lost his command in the middle innings. He walked a career-high three batters in a single inning on Aug. 23 in a victory over the Reds. Suárez has thrown 123 2/3 innings this season. He threw a career-high 124 1/3 innings at Double-A and Triple-A in 2018.

“I’m not concerned at all, but I don’t know what’s going on,” Suárez said through the team’s interpreter. “I feel healthy and to me, that’s the main thing -- to be healthy. I expect to pitch into the end of the season and into the postseason. That’s my goal.”

Sánchez immediately found trouble in the fifth. He allowed a leadoff double to Ketel Marte, then walked Christian Walker and Emmanuel Rivera to load the bases. Sánchez drilled McCarthy in the back with a 92 mph sinker with one out to yield the game-tying run. Carroll ripped a double for his first big league hit to score two runs and give the D-backs a 9-7 lead.

Bellatti replaced Sánchez. He walked Perdomo to load the bases for the second consecutive inning. Perdomo entered the game with a .548 OPS, which ranked 143rd out of 144 qualified batters in MLB. Kelly’s single to right-center field scored another run to make it 10-7. Bellatti walked Marte and Walker with the bases loaded to score Arizona’s 11th and 12th runs, respectively.

Suárez, Sánchez and Bellatti threw a combined 91 pitches in the fourth and fifth.

It was the second time this year the Phillies blew a seven-run lead. They blew a seven-run lead in an 8-7 loss to the Mets on May 5 at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets scored a run in the sixth and seven runs in the ninth to win that one. 

Monday’s collapse wasn't exactly new, but it wasn’t any easier to stomach.

“You just have to flush it and forget about it,” Thomson said.