Ugh. The Phillies playoff hopes are disappearing in front of our eyes. The Phils fell to the Braves 2-1 last night in embarrassing fashion, putting them 3.5 games back in the NL East with just 5 games to play. The pitching duel lived up to every ounce of hype it received, but the Phillies bats went cold under the bright lights.

Charlie Morton was flat-out dominant last night. Morton pitched 7 innings, allowing just three hits, and zero earned runs with 10 strikeouts. The Phillies bats were silent the whole night, with two of their three hits coming as the first two at-bats of the game.

The Braves bats were silent also but came through when Atlanta needed them to. They’d score two on a 2 run single in the bottom of the third inning, as the score would stick at 2-0 until the top of the 9th inning. Zack Wheeler was great, but the trending topic of lack of run support struck the Phillies again last night. Hector Neris would pitch the 8th, and throw a good inning of baseball. The stage was set up for the Phils to take this game over in the 9th.

Harper would walk to start the inning. Realmuto would fly out to center, as Matt Vierling would pinch hit for Brad Miller as the next batter. Vierling would line a ball to left field, and Harper would advance to third on an error by Rosario. The Braves would intentionally walk Cutch, bringing Didi to the plate.

Didi, who has been horrendous against left-handed pitching this year, would hit in his own spot in the lineup. Looking back at it I don’t really know what the right move was here. You have Didi, who is statistically the worst hitter in the league against left-handers, followed by Galvis who is 0 for his last 24. One of these players should have been replaced by Alec Bohm, who was called up just hours before the game, but Girardi rolled with his guys and it didn’t work out.

The Phillies fall to 3.5 games out with just 5 to play, dropping a gut-wrenching national televised baseball game. Although they are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they are basically going to have to win out and need some additional help to get into the playoffs. The team will be back in action tonight, with Aaron Nola (9-8, 4.64 ERA) taking the hill for the Phillies. The Hunt for Red October is slowly dwindling away, with chance after chance being provided to this baseball team.

Go Phillies…I think? I don’t even know what to say at this point man. Gotta hope for a miracle.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports