Cunning Phillies lose again to give Braves false sense of security

The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park, 12-4. Aaron Nola allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings and the bullpen never stopped the bleeding.

In the 12 innings since Zack Wheeler exited Friday’s game, Phillies pitching has allowed 21 runs on 27 hits.

Things got weird early in this one. Alec Bohm unsuccessfully tried to barehand a Ronald Acuna, Jr. ground ball on the first play of the game. Ozzie Albies followed up with a home run, and the Phils were down by two after Nola had thrown just five pitches.

Shortly thereafter, still in the first inning, Bryce Harper flipped over a wall while trying to field a popup in foul territory. Harper landed hard in a camera well and was lucky to escape serious injury. He remained in the game.

Bryce Harper is a lunatic. pic.twitter.com/9WvYBNRPsI

— Absolutely Hammered (@ah_pod) March 30, 2024

Asked if he will talk to Harper about being more cautious, Rob Thomson said, “Sure. But it’s Bryce. He’s going to play the game hard, all the time. It’s tough to rein him in.”

The Phils briefly took the lead in the bottom of the inning, chasing Braves starter Max Fried before it was over. Fried allowed three runs on two hits and three walks in 0.2 innings, throwing 43 pitches. Bryson Stott, who collected three hits on the day, drove in two runs with a single.

Thank you, Great Stott 👏 pic.twitter.com/xiSnNYrQqr

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 30, 2024

But the Braves quickly scored three off Nola in the second inning, this time putting the Phillies behind for good. Nola coughed up a couple more runs in the third, but wasn’t pulled until the fifth. After the game, Thomson credited the righthander for sticking it out to preserve the bullpen for Sunday’s game: “Any [reliever] we used yesterday that we used today, they’re down tomorrow. So he gutted it out for us.”

J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run in the bottom of the third to make it a 7-4 game, but the Phillies never scored after that. The Braves’ lineup, however, was relentless, smacking 19 hits before it was over.

Just two games into the season, the Fightins find themselves needing a win on Sunday to avoid falling three games behind in the division. “Sometimes, early in the season, everybody gets caught up in things. You’re trying to settle in a little bit,” Trea Turner told reporters after the game. “Obviously, you want to win the games. You don’t want to give them away because they matter at the end of the year. It’s balancing urgency and trying to clean things up as fast as possible, but at the same time, we started off bad last year and we ended up having a great season.”

Ranger Suarez gets the ball for the Phillies tomorrow, facing Braves starter Chris Sale in a battle of lefthanders. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.