The Philadelphia Phillies wrapped up a sloppy weekend in Pittsburgh by losing 6-4 to the Pirates yesterday, dropping 2-of-3 games in the series. 

In the rubber match yesterday, Rob Thomson sent the following lineup out to win the series against the Pirates. 

Phillies Lineup vs Pirates

• Kyle Schwarber
• Nick Castellanos
• Bryce Harper
• Alec Bohm
• Trea Turner
• Edmundo Sosa
• Josh Harrison
• Garrett Stubbs
• Johan Rojas 

Listen, I understand that players need a day off every now and then but sitting JT Realmuto, Brandon Marsh, and Bryson Stott at the same time when you are trying to win a series against a bad Pirates team is definitely a questionable move.

Edmundo Sosa is fine off the bench at times, Josh Harrison is useless, and Garrett Stubbs, god bless him but he can’t be in the lineup at the same time as the other two.

Still, the Phillies managed to jump out to a 2-0 lead yesterday in the fourth inning thanks to a 2-run home run from Alec Bohm.

Alec Bohm 2-Run Home Run

Heat Check: Alec Bohm is now slashing .327/.388/.464 with 3 home runs, 19 RBI, 10 BB, 17 R, and 36 H over the last 30 games. 🔥🔥🔥

Cristopher Sanchez, who has been fantastic for the Phillies out of the fifth and final spot of the rotation was on the mound yesterday for the Phillies and carried a no-hit bid through five innings. 

After getting an inning-ending double play and only throwing 71 pitches, Sanchez was pulled from the game, which was a puzzling move by Thomson because again, he hadn’t allowed a hit.

Clearly, there was something “off” with Sanchez. He hit three Pirates and walked two while striking out three. According to Thomson, Sanchez was sick as a dog and if you watched him throw, his velocity was down and it wasn’t his best game.

Regardless, the result was Seranthony Dominguez entering the game and giving up the lead in the sixth inning. It forced the Phillies to put in Jeff Hoffman in relief of Dominguez, followed by Gregory Soto. The Phillies wanted to save Craig Kimbrel for the ninth, which really only gave them Yunior Marte as the best option in the eighth. 

That of course, did not work out well for the Phillies but there was plenty of issues in the field to compliment their lack of pitching.

Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa weren’t communicating and let a routine pop-up hit the ground and the Pirates scored on a singe/E-8 from Johan Rojas, who bobbled the ball in center. 

The Phillies had opportunities to score and just…didn’t. In the top of the 10th inning, with Bryce Harper on third and Alec Bohm on second, Trea Turner hit a fly ball to right field and Henry Davis caught the ball with momentum, firing the it home on an absolute LASER. 

Harper initially took off but stopped halfway down the third base path but Alec Bohm was already off and running to third, which forced Harper to head home for an easy out. The Pirates then walked it off in the 10th inning on a Josh Palacios two-run home run off Andrew Vasquez. 

Just like that, in a weekend series that the Phillies could have easily swept, they ended up dropping 2-of-3 instead to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. 

NL Wild Card Standings

After dropping 2 of 3 to the Pirates over the weekend, the Phillies fell to a half-game out of the final spot, tied in the loss column with the Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers.

The Giants old the top spot with a game advantage. 

It’s not the end of the world.

Looking at the Wild Card Standings, its a complete mess and the Phillies are still not playing their best baseball of the season. Tomorrow begins the month of August and there’s a favorable schedule ahead for the Phillies to really separate themselves from the pack.

Nick Castellanos, JT Realmuto, and Kyle Schwarber need to get going again if the Phillies want to make some noise in August. Realmuto had the day off yesterday but hasn’t been great all season, while Schwarber and Castellanos continue to struggle.

This is bad:

• Kyle Schwarber: 0-3, 2 BB, 3 K
• Nick Castellanos: 1-5, 2 K 

The Phillies will open up a 4-game series tonight against the Marlins in Miami. Taijuan Walker (11-4, 4.06 ERA) takes the mound against Edward Cabrera (5-6, 4.74 ERA).

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