Phillies comeback falls short, lose 9-7 to the Rockies in extras

Two straight games where the Phillies’ starter got destroyed early. Two straight games where the offense had to dig out of a massive hole.

Thursday they couldn’t dig out at all. Friday they dug all the way back from 6-0, tied it on a Justin Crawford two-run homer in the eighth inning, and still lost 9-7 in 11 innings to the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park.

There’s no such thing as a moral victory.

A comeback that doesn’t result in a win is just a longer path to the same destination. The rally was exciting. Crawford’s homer was electric. None of it matters because the final score says 9-7 Rockies and the Phillies are 17-22.

The loss counts the same whether you get blown out or fight back and fall short in extras. This team needed a win and didn’t get one because the starting pitching put them in a hole that never should have existed in the first place.

Luzardo Was a Disaster for the Second Time in Three Starts

Jesus Luzardo threw 95 pitches and didn’t record a single out in the fourth inning. That’s the most pitches by a Phillies starter without completing three innings since Terry Adams threw 97 over 2 1/3 innings in July 2002. The man they signed for $135 million couldn’t get through three innings against the Colorado Rockies. At home.

Two starts ago, Luzardo looked like a completely different pitcher. He struck out 10 with zero walks in Miami. Before that, he was sharp against San Francisco. Two excellent starts in a row that made everyone believe the early-season struggles were behind him. Then Friday happened and we’re right back to the version of Luzardo that posted a 6.91 ERA through his first five starts.

Six runs on four hits with runners on base. Three walks after walking nobody in his previous two outings. An ERA with men on base that’s north of 16 this season. Sixteen. That’s not a rough patch, that’s a fundamental inability to pitch with runners on and it has plagued Luzardo since he arrived in Philadelphia last year.

When the bases are empty, he looks like an ace. When runners get on, he falls apart. The Phillies paid $135 million for a pitcher who turns into a different person the moment someone reaches first base.

Hunter Goodman hit a three-run homer on a 2-2 sweeper that Luzardo tried to back-foot below the zone. The pitch was where he wanted it. Goodman just stayed back, got good extension, and hooked it down the left-field line. When your command is off and hitters are extending at-bats against you, even the pitches out of the zone find seats. That was Luzardo’s night in a sentence.

Justin Crawford’s First Career Homer Was Electric

Down 6-5 in the eighth inning, Justin Crawford stepped to the plate and hit the first home run of his Major League career to tie the game. A two-run shot that brought 39,478 fans at Citizens Bank Park back to life after a night that felt dead from the first inning.

This kid keeps finding ways to deliver in the biggest moments. Two walk-off hits in his first month in the big leagues. A ninth-inning triple against Arizona that nearly tied a game. Now a game-tying homer in the eighth inning against the Rockies. The power is developing. Mattingly has talked about believing Crawford’s power can keep growing. Friday night it showed up at the most important possible time.

THE KID IS CLUTCH pic.twitter.com/jOLABu0Dmz

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 9, 2026

The rally in the eighth was five runs to erase a 6-0 deficit. Marsh singled in a run. Stott cleared the bases with a double. Crawford tied it with the homer. That takes guts from a lineup that had been shut down for seven innings by Chase Dollander and the Rockies’ bullpen. The problem is that a five-run rally in the eighth means nothing when the bullpen can’t hold the tie in extras.

Schwarber Hit Homer Number 200 in a Phillies Uniform

Lost in the mess of this game was Schwarber launching his 200th home run in a Phillies uniform. He reached the milestone in 666 games. Only Ryan Howard got there faster in red pinstripes, doing it in 658. Realmuto followed later in the inning with an opposite-field RBI double off the right-field wall.

Kyle's 200th Schwarbomb as a Phillie heads to the 2nd deck 💣 pic.twitter.com/4lJgmWSbSm

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 9, 2026

The Comeback Didn’t Hold Because Keller Can’t Hold Anything

After both teams traded zeroes in the 10th, the Rockies pushed across two in the 11th. Troy Johnston lined a go-ahead double off Brad Keller. Jake McCarthy followed with an RBI single. The Phillies couldn’t answer in the bottom of the 11th and the comeback that Crawford’s homer had made possible was wasted.

Keller continues to be a liability in high-leverage situations. The man cannot be trusted with a lead or a tie in extras and the Phillies keep running him out there because the bullpen options are thin. Jhoan Duran needs to get back immediately because watching Keller blow games that the offense fights to claw back into is becoming unbearable.

Two Straight Starts Where the Starter Didn’t Make It Through Four Innings

Painter gave up seven runs in 3 2/3 on Thursday. Luzardo gave up six runs in three-plus on Friday. That’s 13 runs allowed by the starting pitching in back-to-back games before the fourth inning.

The bullpen can’t absorb that workload every night and the offense can’t be expected to erase six-run deficits on a regular basis. The rotation looked like it had turned a corner under Mattingly and then Painter and Luzardo went back-to-back with the two worst starts of the week.

Since May 1st, the Phillies have slashed .243/.290/.403 against starting pitchers with a .693 OPS. Their production against relievers has been significantly better at a .742 OPS. The offense is coming alive late in games but doing nothing against starters early. That’s a formula for dramatic comebacks and heartbreaking losses, which is exactly what the last two nights have been.

Nola takes the ball Saturday against Kyle Freeland. The rotation needs a clean start desperately because asking the lineup to dig out of early holes every night is going to burn this team out before June.

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