PHILADELPHIA — It was 7:55 p.m. when Torrie Turner trudged into the Phillies’ clubhouse Saturday. The result was a 6-2 loss to the New York Mets, which lasted 31 minutes at Citizens Bank Park. But Turner was still in uniform. He had two bats. His hat was turned backwards. Some of his teammates took a shower and left. A piercing sound wafted through the room.
Turner needed time. He analyzed the video of his at-bat from Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Batting between two left-handed sluggers, Turner went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. The Phillies held 19 batters without a hit until the middle of the game. This wasn’t a $300 million shortstop. But it’s impossible to look at these Phillies now and not think about last October. A seed of doubt was planted in this stadium, as the Phillies’ batters were not allowed to make hard contact in at-bat after at-bat, and the enthusiastic crowd was filled with tension.
“We don’t know when that will happen,” Turner said. “That’s why you have to keep pushing. Look forward to the next pitch, the next opportunity. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Tomorrow is Sunday, so the Phillies have to win. For the first time in the postseason under manager Rob Thomson, the Phillies lost Game 1. The Phillies have lost in Game 1 all seven times in franchise history without winning a series.
So they have to do something that has never happened in 142 seasons of Phillies baseball.
On Saturday, the Phillies lost despite not allowing extra base hits. Zach Wheeler had one of the best pitching performances in Phillies history in October, throwing 111 pitches with one hit in seven innings, but the Phillies lost. Their two best relievers, Jeff Hoffman and Matt Stram, led in every count and watched as the Mets allowed them five points. They got a familiar shock, a blast from leadoff Kyle Schwarber, but still lost.
That eighth inning was 24 minutes of hell for a Phillies team built to win in October, a team that had been cruising for months this season. The bullpen meltdown was unexpected. “It was amazing,” Thomson said. “It was.” But the Phillies left the door ajar against New York’s resilient batting lineup.
Zach Wheeler gave up one hit and no runs in seven innings, thanking the crowd. (Eric Hartline/Imagine Images)
The game was lost in the middle innings when Wheeler did his best to carry the Phillies.
“Obviously, as an offense, we squandered that start,” Bryce Harper said. “Same thing, dude. Chasing the ball in the dirt. We didn’t do the work of digging deep in the count like we should have. We understood what they were trying to do to us. And we have to turn it on as an attack.”
It’s the same thing. What are the Mets trying to do?
“Obviously they’re going to bury things and try to get us to chase them as much as possible,” Harper said. “They pitch really well. But we have some really good hitters here. We just have to persevere and know we can do it.”
So it was interesting to hear the contrast between the two teams after a jarring first game. Brandon Nimmo, who singled off Stram’s 0-for-2 fastball error, praised the Mets’ pitchers for keeping the Mets alive. They knew Wheeler would be rarely hit, especially in the challenging shadows that affect both offenses. However, with a one-point difference, Nimmo was able to “think small.” The Mets batted away with five singles and one walk in the eighth inning. He scored two points on a sacrifice fly.
“We’re doing whatever the game calls for us to do at that point,” Nimmo said. “Whether it’s just a sac fly, whether it’s putting the ball in play, whether it’s putting a guy over, whatever it is. I believe in understanding the current state of baseball and not doing too much and getting back out there. Now, sometimes that can be a home run or a big double.”
This may not be the case.
“I think it was really hard to watch baseball from the first inning to the seventh inning,” Nick Castellanos said. “I’m thinking both ways. What did we have? Three hits through the first seven innings. I think both teams put together better at-bats after the sun went behind the stadium. think.”
They did. But New York was better. Nimmo said he couldn’t see the string on the ball. “So you’re literally just swinging at a black ball,” Nimmo said. Shadows at Citizens Bank Park said batters are at their worst when the mound is dark but the batter’s eyes are still bright. It was like that for most of the match.
“I don’t know if I saw much,” Mets third baseman Mark Vientos said. “Obviously, it was tough to watch baseball, but both teams dealt with it.”
they were. Castellanos acknowledged that. Game 2 starts at the same time — 4:08 p.m. So what happens?
“It’s going to be tough,” Castellanos said. “It’s going to be the same for us as it is for them. We’re going to have to find a way to deal with it.”
As shadows cover the field, Bryson Stott warms up in front of a raucous crowd before Game 1. (Bill Streicher/Imagine Images)
The reconnaissance report is already clear. The team is giving the Phillies fewer fastballs to throw into the zone. When pitchers make mistakes, it hurts them. Opponents are pitching more off-speed, both strikes and balls. The Phillies are aggressive. they will chase.
“Sometimes you get passive and all of a sudden you’re hitting a good ball,” Castellanos said. “And sometimes you’re ready to hit and there’s nothing in the zone to hit. I think step one is just flushing it out, coming together and understanding that this is not going to be easy. . We just have to regroup and fight. That’s all we can do.”
“We’ve got to be better,” Harper said.
Turner stared at his at-bat. In his first at-bat, he followed one pitch and got a strike three. In his second at-bat, he hit a changeup that made it 0-for-0, but it was ruled a strike. In subsequent at-bats, he swung at a breaking ball in the same position and missed. It was a ball. “You kind of think you have to swing at it,” Turner said. He then grounded out on a fielder’s choice.
He came to bat in the 5th inning with one out and second base. Johan Rojas gave up a nine-pitch walk to start the inning. His escape would have been a great insurance policy.
Turner chased the first pitch changeup and struck out. he took the ball. He faced left-hander David Peterson. He was a starter all season, but made his 46th appearance two days after a decisive win at Milwaukee. This was Turner’s moment.
He hit the slider down and swung it off. The ball floated into the foul area and hit the glove of Mets first baseman Pete Alonso with two outs. Harper struck out. Rojas was stuck there.
“A lot of the balls that I personally saw back were hitting the edge of the box,” Turner said. “It’s hard to hit that pitch. I don’t know. I wish I could point to something and take those pitches and do this and do that. But personally, today’s decision… I think I was right. And I didn’t execute well enough.”
Maybe Sunday would be better. But things are rapidly slowing down for the Phillies.
even deeper
The Mets wait for Wheeler, rock the Phillies with 5 runs in 8 innings, and win Game 1: Takeaway.
even deeper
Mets win Game 1 with makeshift pitching plan: ‘It was almost perfect’
(Photo of Trea Turner and Bryce Harper: Rob Tringali/MLB Photo via Getty Images)
