Phillies lose a series for the first time in over a month

The Phillies lost two of three against the Rockies in Colorado this weekend, dropping their first series since April 22-24 in Cincinnati. The loss ended the Phils’ streak of consecutive series wins/splits at 15.

Series recap

On Friday, umpire number 120 ejected Bryce Harper in the first inning after Harper complained about the ump’s strike zone. The ejection may have changed the outcome of the game, which the Phillies lost in eleven innings, 3-2. Nick Castellanos and Edmundo Sosa hit home runs in the fifth to give the Phils a 2-0 lead, but the Rockies scored a run in the bottom of the fifth off starter Cristopher Sanchez. In the ninth, after Jose Alvarado struck out the first two batters he faced, Rockies pinch hitter Jacob Stallings blasted a solo home run to tie the game. The Phillies failed to score their ghost runner in both the tenth and eleventh innings, and the Rockies brought home the winning run against Gregory Soto.

The Phillies’ offense struggled for most of Saturday’s 8-4 win as well. The team entered the ninth inning trailing 3-2 before exploding for six runs in the final frame. Brandon Marsh walked, Edmundo Sosa tripled, and Garrett Stubbs singled to give the Phils a 4-3 lead. Harper hit a three-run homer later in the inning, and Castellanos drove in one final run to put a bow on the game. Starting pitcher Aaron Nola struggled a bit early, but eventually settled in enough to give his team six solid innings.

In the series finale on Sunday, Ranger Suarez had his first bad outing of the year in a 5-2 Phils loss. He allowed all five runs in the game’s first two innings. Like Nola, Suarez managed to give the team six innings and help preserve the bullpen, and he even retired the final 13 batters he faced. The offense never woke up in this one, however, and the Phillies left Colorado with just one win against one of baseball’s worst teams.

Hot and cold

– J.T. Realmuto preserved his hitting streak through the series. The streak is up to 15 games, with Realmuto hitting .369/.406/.539 (.945 OPS) during that span.

– Sosa continued to impress. He had three extra-base hits in ten at-bats against the Rockies, and he’s slashing .319/.402/.597 (.999 OPS) this season in 83 plate appearances.

– The Phillies bullpen allowed just two earned runs over the course of the series, keeping all three games within striking distance for the offense.

– Alec Bohm has cooled off some after posting MVP-caliber numbers for much the season. Bohm hit .214 with just one RBI in 14 ABs in the Rockies series, and is hitting .174 with a .435 OPS over his last five games.

– Bryson Stott had just one hit in 12 ABs against the Rockies and has just two hits and one walk in his last 25 plate appearances.

Takeaways

– The Phillies are not invincible. Over 162 games, it is inevitable that the team’s offense will go cold here and there, and that’s exactly what happened in this weekend’s series against the Rockies.

– Discussion about the Phillies’ “easy schedule” among some MLB fans and observers is, and always has been, ridiculous. There are no free wins against the other professional baseball teams in this league. Just this weekend, while the Phillies lost two of three to Colorado, the Braves lost two of three against an under-.500 Pirates team, and the Dodgers were swept by a Reds squad that entered their series 20-30 overall.

– Phillies fans travel well. There was a whole lot of red among the fans in attendance at Coors Field in Denver this weekend.

– The Phillies could use Trea Turner (rehabbing from a hamstring strain) back in the lineup. Despite the stellar play of Sosa in the starting shortstop’s absence, without Turner the team is short one of the guys who can single-handedly carry the offense for a week or two. There are other superstars in this lineup who can do the same, but Turner is the Phillies’ best right-handed bat.

Turner felt some stiffness/soreness on Sunday morning, one day after increasing the intensity of his rehab. Erring on the side of caution, the Phillies will ease up and pause his rehab program for a few days.

Next up

The Phillies will look to get back on track in San Francisco this week.

On Monday afternoon, Taijuan Walker (3-0, 5.06 ERA) will face Giants LHP Blake Snell (0-3, 11.40 ERA). Zack Wheeler (6-3, 2.53 ERA) gets the ball on Tuesday night in what may be a bullpen game for San Fran. And on Wednesday, Sanchez (2-3, 3.15 ERA) is scheduled to pitch against Giants LHP Kyle Harrison (4-1, 3.90 ERA).