PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Schwarber chucked his helmet into the dirt.
He represented himself, his teammates, his organization and his city at that moment. The Phillies lost to the Braves on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park, 4-2. They had the tying run on first base with two outs in the ninth inning when Schwarber smoked a line drive toward the right-field wall. It looked like a hit, but Atlanta right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. caught the ball on the run, sealing the Phillies’ fifth consecutive loss, their 10th loss in 13 games and their worst nine-game homestand in almost 17 years.
“Obviously, sure, there’s frustration,” Schwarber said. “But you can only kind of just grin at it, too. Right?”
Because in a way this whole thing is just ridiculous.
The Phillies have one of the highest payrolls in baseball, coming off a 96-win season. But they are 8-13. It is their worst start through 21 games since 2015, when they started 8-13 on their way to 99 losses under managers Ryne Sandberg and Pete Mackanin. They have the worst run differential (-38) in Major League Baseball, which is surprising only because the Mets have lost 11 games in a row.
The Phillies haven’t hit, they haven’t pitched and they haven’t played good defense.
“We’re not used to this,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We’re not.”
The Phillies’ 2-7 homestand was their worst nine-game homestand since 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.
“We’ve been in these spots before,” Schwarber said. “I guess it’s a glaring moment, just because it’s the start of the year. No one wants to be in this position to start the year off. But this team knows how to find its way out of holes and keep battling, and keep finding a way to put ourselves in position to win games.”
The Phillies have had four other 3-10 stretches the past few years. They had ones that ended on June 11, 2025; Aug. 5, 2024; Sept. 29, 2022, just five games before they clinched the third NL Wild Card to spark a run to the World Series; and May 31, 2022, just three days before Joe Girardi lost his job.
They’re trying to stay positive about it.
“That’s my job,” Thomson said. “There are times when you have to straighten some people. In a way, we’ve done that. But for the most part, you’ve got to stay positive and you’ve got to believe in the club. Because there's talent here. It's not that we don't have talent. We've got talent. It just hasn't happened yet. But it’s going to happen.”
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Schwarber hit a two-run homer to right field. But once again, the offense shut down. 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. Acuña 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. The Braves’ next two balls in play never left the infield, but they each scored a run to give Atlanta the lead. Ozzie Albies’ double to left field turned Brandon Marsh into a pretzel as he tried to make a play at the wall. It scored another run to give the Braves a two-run lead.
“A lot of frustration,” Thomson said. “We’re disappointed. We’re frustrated. I know they’re trying hard, sometimes they’re trying too hard. I think guys are upset. We’re off to a slow start here, but it’s going to get better.”
Bryson Stott reached across the plate to hit a changeup for a leadoff double in the ninth. Justin Crawford walked with one out. Trea Turner struck out swinging for the second out.
Schwarber lined a changeup from Raisel Iglesias into the corner. Crawford had just touched second base when Acuña caught the ball.
“I was going to try to score, unless Dusty [Wathan] stopped me,” Crawford said.
The Phillies quietly packed their bags on Sunday night. They had a plane to catch to Chicago, where they will open a seven-game road trip on Monday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. They will play four against the Cubs, who just won two of three in Philadelphia last week. Then they will open a three-game series this weekend in Atlanta against the Braves, who just swept them.
“Everyone in the dugout, everyone in the locker room, we’re all putting in the work,” Schwarber said. “We’re all doing what we need to do. We all want to keep getting better. Results, chasing results, chasing hits, chasing all that, that’s not the way to go about it. I feel like on a daily basis, seeing the guys in here and the way that they’re working, it’s inevitable. It’s inevitable. At some point it’s going to change.”