PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies’ latest loss started in the fifth inning on Sunday night with the Braves’ No. 9 hitter slapping a single to right field.
Four of the next five batters put the ball in play. The other batter walked. One ball turned Brandon Marsh into a pretzel as he tried to make a play at the left-field wall. Two other balls never left the infield.
But the Braves moved runners and they scored three runs to take the lead and send the Phillies to a 4-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have lost five in a row and 10 of 13. They have the worst run differential (-38) in Major League Baseball, which is saying something because the Mets have lost 11 games in a row.
The Phillies’ 2-7 homestand was their worst nine-game homestand in almost 17 years, going back to when they went 1-8 from June 12-21, 2009.
Those Phillies ultimately went to the World Series.
These Phillies haven’t looked that part at all this season.
They haven’t hit, they haven’t pitched and they haven’t played good defense. They are 8-13, which is the first time they’ve been five games under .500 since they were 28-33 on June 4, 2023. They have lost four of their first five home series this season. They lost three home series all of last season.
It’s the first time they’ve won only one of their first five home series since 2013.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer to right field. They didn't mount many serious threats the rest of the way, other than putting runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth inning and putting two on with two outs in the ninth before Schwarber lined out to deep right field to end it.
Phillies right-hander Andrew Painter allowed a solo homer to Michael Harris II in the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1. Harris hit a leadoff single to right in the fifth. Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a single to left to end Painter’s night.
Phillies left-hander Tim Mayza walked Drake Baldwin to load the bases with no outs. Matt Olson’s fielder’s choice scored a run to tie the game. Austin Riley's slow chopper died on the infield grass to score another run to give Atlanta a 3-2 lead.
Ozzie Albies followed with a double to left that got Marsh turned around as he tried to make a play.
That felt like the game then and there. It was.