PHILADELPHIA -- For the second time in three days, the Phillies wasted a gem from their starting pitcher.
Rookie right-hander Andrew Painter turned in the longest outing of his young MLB career on Sunday afternoon, allowing just two runs across 6 1/3 innings. When the 23-year-old walked off the mound at Citizens Bank Park in the top of the seventh inning, he received a standing ovation.
But Painter had little else to show for his effort. That’s because Philadelphia’s bats stayed silent -- particularly against left-handed starter Parker Messick -- in a 3-1 loss to the Guardians, dropping the rubber game of the three-game set and ending the homestand on an underwhelming note.
“There’s not a lot to say other than those types of games are playoff-type games, honestly,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “You get pitching like that, the bullpens are really good, it’s going to be the little things that you do, scratch across a run here or there, that will make a difference. This series, we didn’t do it.”
The Phillies received superb starting pitching in the first two games of the series, the kind that can carry them through October. Cristopher Sánchez spun eight brilliant innings on Friday, followed by six spotless frames from Zack Wheeler on Saturday. Those are tough acts to follow. Not for Painter, at least not on this day.
“You see him be a guy that’s kind of turned into the other guys,” Mattingly said. “... Probably as good as I’ve seen him.”
Painter looked in control in his 10th Major League appearance -- his ninth start -- while continuing what has been an upward trajectory of late. That is a key development for the Phillies, who are still searching for consistency behind their two aces. Remarkably efficient, Painter needed just 82 pitches (52 strikes) to record 19 outs. He relied heavily on his splitter -- a pitch he said he’s been searching for of late -- and threw it 23 times, the most in a single outing in his career.
Lately, the Phillies have used a quick hook with Painter, in part hoping to boost the rookie’s confidence. He had thrown just 69 and 62 pitches in his past two starts, respectively, despite pitching well both times. The calculus changed on Sunday. For the first time in his career, Painter threw a pitch in the seventh inning in a game in which he served as the starting pitcher.
“Your job is to go out there and pitch deep into games,” Painter said. “That takes the load off the bullpen. Just keeping that pitch count down and being efficient early has helped me.”
Cleveland scratched across the game’s first run in the fifth inning when center fielder Steven Kwan dunked a base hit into left field, bringing home Daniel Schneemann. An inning later, old friend Rhys Hoskins laced a double down the left-field line to score Chase DeLauter. Both Schneemann and DeLauter reached base via a walk -- the only two walks that Painter issued on the day.
While Painter flourished, the Phillies could not crack Messick, who entered the day with a 2.45 ERA that ranked 14th best among qualified pitchers. Philadelphia left eight runners on base across the first six innings, stranding a runner in each frame. The Phillies have scored four runs or fewer in five consecutive games. That directly follows a stretch in which they scored five or more runs in four straight games.
Now, Philadelphia heads west to embark on a six-game road trip against two of baseball’s best. First up, three against the Padres, then a trip to L.A. for three games with the defending champions.
It is not the time for a skid. The Phillies are confident they can get their bats going in time.
“We’ve got to keep going,” Mattingly said. “San Diego is a handful. But so are we, quite honestly. When you walk into a series, no one’s walking in against the Phillies and saying, ‘Oh this is a series that we’re going to come in and bang these guys around.’ I think teams know better. But we’ve got to do enough to win.”