Asleep At The Wheel: Phillies Fall to Mariners 5-4
The Phillies committed four errors and allowed ten hits as they fell to the Mariners 5-4 on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
This was a game the Phillies could have easily won against a Mariners team, that if I have to be honest, kind of stinks. For the third or fourth time this season, the defense crumbled, allowing a light hitting team to manufacture runs without getting extra base hits. Before the season we all thought the Phillies could cover up their league-worst glove work by scoring runs.
We’re still waiting on the runs.
The Mariners jumped on Aaron Nola early, notching four hits in the 1st inning alone. It wasn’t as if Seattle was hitting Nola hard, but with broken bats and bloop singles the Mariners were able to score two runs.
In the second inning Joe Girardi was ejected after Rhys Hoskins had the ball dislodged from his glove at first base by the runner who was clearly out. The ball fluttered away toward the dugout, allowing a run to score from second base. Yet, because the Phillies took more than ten seconds to challenge the play, the umpire crew decided nothing would be reviewed; not even the out at first!
After a month spent sitting on his hands while he watched umpires abuse his player’s, Joe finally decided to step up and make his himself heard. It didn’t take long for Girardi to get tossed as he was fighting against an absolutely asinine MLB rule intended to ‘speed up the game’. Meanwhile, the game was paused for ten minutes while Girardi and the umpire argued over the merits of said rule.
Aaron Nola: 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Nola was actually pretty sharp tonight, showing off a beautiful fastball/curveball combo with excellent command. He also didn’t allow a home runs but was eventually sunk by his defense, the umpire crew, and baseball luck in general.
Rhys Hoskins was awful tonight at first base, committing two errors and making a few others entertaining. The fanbase has been all over Rhys as of late regarding his struggles at the plate. While he’s actually be pretty close to league average in hitting this season, his defense deserves plenty of ridicule.
Nick Castellanos, Rhys Hoskins, and Jean Segura all hit solo home runs for the Phillies. Hoskins hit his second in as many nights, while Segura hit third bomb over the past three games.
The Phillies can still win the series tomorrow afternoon at 3:40 pm, but after tonight’s loss are 7.5 GB of the division leading New York Mets. My god, does that hurt to actually type out..
Mariners (14-17) Beat Phillies (13-17)
- Winning Pitcher: Robbie Ray (3-3, 4.22)
- Losing Pitcher: Aaron Nola (1-4, 3.83)
- Save: Paul Seward (1)
The Mariners were breaking bats and getting bloop singles in a rough 1st inning for Aaron Nola who surrendered two runs.
2-0 Mariners
Rhys Hoskins gets the ball knocked out of his hand after clearly making the out at first base. The loose ball allows the runner to score from second and the umpire crew doesn’t seem to care because the Phillies failed to challenge the play within ten seconds…what?!?
3-0 Mariners
After sitting on his hands for the first month of the season, Joe Girardi finally decides to grab his player’s back.
Nick Castellanos takes Robbie Ray yard to put the Phillies on the board in the 5th inning.
3-1 Mariners
Robbie Ray throws back-to-back wild pitches allowing Jean Segura to advance from second base to home and cutting the lead to one run.
3-2 Mariners
Brad Hand hits Ty France with the bases loaded, forcing in a run for his second walk of the inning.
4-2 Mariners
Rhys Hoskins blasts his second home run in as many nights to cut the Mariners lead to two runs.
5-3 Mariners
Jean Segura hits his second home run of the series against his former team where he was an All-Star in 2017.
5-4 Mariners
Up Next
DAY GAME ALERT!
The Phillies and Mariners will play the deciding game of the series on Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.
Bailey Falter (0-1, 4.91) will toe the rubber facing off against Logan Gilbert (4-1, 1.36) with the first pitch scheduled for 3:40 pm.
NBC Sports will carry the broadcast of the game.
