The Philadelphia Phillies lost another winnable game last night in 12 innings against the Miami Marlins by a final score of 9-8.

I’ll be completely honest with you. After a night with little-to-no sleep on Tuesday and the Phillies were up 5-2 heading into the eighth inning last night, I made the critical mistake of dozing off on my couch thinking that Wheeler and company got the job done.

I marked last night as a win, woke up, turned off my television and went straight to bed, not even checking the score. That’s on me.

As you could imagine, I awoke with Dylan Covey pitching highlights and a critical error from none other than Trea Turner that led to a 9-8 loss in 12 innings last night. 

What a horrible way to start a Thursday. 

Turner couldn’t field a routine ground ball with a runner on second and two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning which allowed the game-tying run to score off none other than Phillies’ killer Josh Bell. 

Trea Turner Error

All Turner had to do was keep the ball in front of him and throw it over to first base to end the game and instead, he allowed it to go right past him into left field. 

To make matters worse, Turner along with Kyle Schwarber combined for 0-10 at the plate with two walks, three strikeouts, and 2 runs scored.

Zack Wheeler was on the mound last night and continued his recent stretch of quality starts. The Phillies’ ace tossed six innings and allowed five hits and two earned runs, both coming on solo shots in the bottom of the sixth, while walking one and striking out four. 

Matt Strahm then entered the game and pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two more earned runs, as the Phillies took a 5-4 advantage into the the ninth inning. 

Jeff Hoffman pitched the first two outs, but also walked two, which opted Thomson to turn to Gregory Soto to record the final out instead of Craig Kimbrel. 

Soto then blew the save opportunity with Jorge Soler taking him deep to right center field to tie the game. 

Look and Suffer

Brandon Marsh Pinch Hit 2-Run Home Run

The Phillies, surprisingly bounced back and took a two-run lead in the 10th. Brandon Marsh crushed two-run pinch hit home run to centerfield that scored Trea Turner. 

Just when you thought the Phillies fought back in the 10th to win this game, Craig Kimbrel then blew the game in the bottom of the 10th, leaving the Phillies with Dylan Covey as their only available option out of the bullpen to try to win this game.

Look, I know that the Phillies are short on bullpen arms at the moment but it’s hard not to look towards Rob Thomson and Dave Dombrowski and ask why they put themselves in this type of position in the first place. 

Baseball games go to extra innings. Obviously. When you have Dylan Covey as your only option available out of the bullpen and he pitches one inning, allowing two hits, a walk, and two runs to score regardless of Trea Turners dumb error, then really, what were you expecting to happen? 

Does anyone think that Dylan Covey can pitch at the major league level? He has personally lost the Phillies 2 or 3 games this season just from him putting on a Phillies uniform. 

Embarrassing. 

I will say, like I have been from the start of the 2023 MLB season, the Miami Marlins are not serious contenders. I just wanted to bury them and sweep a four game series. Taking 3 of 4 when really it should have been a sweep, JUST LIKE IN PITTSBURGH, isn’t the worst thing for the Phillies.

Phillies Hunt for Red October

Milwaukee lost last night and dropped to 3-7 over their last 10 games. They are now tied with the Marlins for the third and final NL Wild Card spot with the Giants still in first and the Phillies in second by a half game. 

Outside looking in, you have the D-Backs, who also lost and are 3-7 over their last 10 games and the Cubs, who are 8-2 over their last 10 and winners of two straight. 

Michael Lorenzen will make his Phillies debut today at 12:10PM against Johnny Cueto for the Miami Marlins.

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