Kerkering stumbles again, Phils lose third straight series before trade deadline originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
They held a three-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday, but Orion Kerkering faltered for the second time in three starts and the Phillies ended up being defeated by the Twins, 5-4.
Kerkering struck out the leadoff batter in the seventh before walking the next two and hitting a batter to load the bases. Matt Strahm relieved him and induced a run-scoring groundout, but Brandon Marsh was unable to corral Carlos Santana’s deep flyball with two outs and it resulted in a two-run double instead of an inning-ending flyout. It was hit hard and far, but Marsh simply misread it and tried to catch it on the warning track.
Gregory Soto struck out the first batter he faced in the ninth, advanced him into scoring position with a wild pitch and allowed Max Kepler’s game-winning single.
The Phillies (64-38) went 2-4 on their trip to Pittsburgh and Minnesota and have lost three straight series since last weekend’s first half. This is the first time all season that they have lost six of nine games.
Wednesday seemed like a good win that would have ended a .500 trip. Aaron Nola took corners en route to six innings of one-run ball, and after the Phillies started the day 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, Kyle Schwarber finally got a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the sixth to untie the game.
The Phils scored again in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Nick Castellanos, who went 3-for-4 and finished the day with his highest batting average (.242) and OPS (.711) since the opening weekend of the season. .
Nola left after throwing 98 pitches and Kerkering was unable to locate. Before this past week, Kerkering had made 45 major league appearances and never allowed multiple runs. But he gave up two runs on three hits Friday in Pittsburgh, and after retiring two of the three Twins he faced on Monday, the walks haunted him on Wednesday. Kerkering’s ERA has increased from 1.26 to 2.39 in his last three appearances.
Suddenly, the bullpen seems as big a need as the right-handed outfield bat. Kerkering is going through a rough patch and Jose Alvarado was moved to a lower-leverage role after his own struggles continued outside of the All-Star break. There were times this season when the Phillies could rely on as many as five relievers: Alvarado, Jeff Hoffman, Strahm, Kerkering and Gregory Soto. Right now, they’re down to two in Hoffman and Strahm, though Alvarado’s stuff will still be as overpowering as usual if he can get back to throwing the first punch.
In that sense, it’s better for these appearances and games to happen the week before the trade deadline rather than the week after. The Phillies were scoreless in 35 of 40 innings from Friday night until Tuesday’s ninth-inning rally and lost two of their six games in the second half after bullpen implosions. It’s hard to believe they’ll leave the July 30 trade deadline without at least one significant addition, not in response to a recession or even because it’s needed in the regular season, but because holes need to be filled before the playoffs. .
Once again, despite the loss, little ground was lost as the Braves lost the first half of the doubleheader for their fourth straight loss. The Phillies will end the day with an 8½ or 9 game lead. They are just 19-19 since the final day in London, but the division lead has not changed.
Still, the Phillies realize they haven’t hosted full games in a little over a week and will be focused on fixing the situation this weekend at home. AL Central leader Cleveland is in town Friday to begin a six-game homestand against two of the American League’s top three teams, the Guardians and Yankees.
The Phils have Cristopher Sanchez, Tyler Phillips and Ranger Suarez starting after the day off. They will face two of their former workers in the first two games, right-handers Ben Lively and Carlos Carrasco.
