June 17, 2016
The opposition has looked so comfortable at Citizens Bank Park in the last three nights that a rambunctious young lad darted out of the seats along the third base line, went completely ignored as he danced a jig for 10 seconds, and then evaded an army of elderly security gentlemen as he continued to take his near-streaking act into the infield before he was tackled in front of Maikel Franco.
When the action returned to the baseball on Friday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the opposition that was supposed to be competing on the field (and not overserved in the stands), continued to look just as comfortable as the team that preceded them in South Philly, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Yasmany Tomas, who has turned into a very average major league outfielder after flirting with the Phillies as a Cuban free agent two winters ago, homered twice. His second may still be in orbit.
Peter O'Brien, who had hit 17 home runs in 51 games at Triple-A Reno this year, also homered twice. Both of his blasts came in back-to-back shots, first with Tomas in the fifth inning, then with Welington Castillo in the seventh.
Paul Goldschmidt also homered. And Mark Grace. And Matt Williams. And Luis Gonzalez.
OK, not the last three. But you get the point.
Peter O'Brien is a strong, strong man.
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 18, 2016
First homer: https://t.co/IP5n0TbI5c
Second homer: https://t.co/i5mjHpFX0s pic.twitter.com/vZVZnVZbDl
The Phillies pitching staff could be headed to the disabled list with a collective case of whiplash. They have surrendered 11 home runs in the last two games, and 17 in a four-game losing streak that continued with a 10-2 defeat.
"There’s no way to sugarcoat that," said manager Pete Mackanin, who kicked his habit of reeling off a few positives to open his postgame presser to the curb on Friday night. "(We) gave up 11 home runs the last two nights, committed seven errors – it’s not good. Can’t sugarcoat it. Pitching was our strength, we were a good team the first two months. Pitching was a big reason for it. Our pitching hasn’t been as good lately and we’ve always had the issue with our offense.
"But we’re getting to a point where we need to regroup. We just have to keep working with these guys and keep their heads up and keep pushing. That’s the only thing I can think of doing."
Thanks to a barrage of home runs that would make Babe Ruth blush, the Phils have been outscored 41-9 in their last four games. The Phillies (30-38) have lost eight of their last nine games; they've been outscored 71-21 in those eight losses.
The 17 home runs the Phillies have allowed since Tuesday is a new franchise record for a four-game stretch (previous record: 16 home runs in four games between Sept. 3-7, 1999). The franchise first began playing ball in 1883.
"That's one thing we need to work on, making hitters uncomfortable," Friday's starting pitcher Adam Morgan said of opposing hitters looking a little too comfortable in the batter's box. "Not necessarily doing anything irrational, but you have to throw on both sides of the plate."
Unlike the last two nights, when Toronto's sit-back-and-mash offense was swinging out of its shoes from the start, Friday's game actually began somewhat encouragingly for the Phillies.
Cody Asche slid up to the No. 2 spot in the lineup, doubled in the bottom of the first, Tommy Joseph battled back from a 1-2 deficit to work a walk, and then Cameron Rupp drove both home with triple off the rail above the fence in right field. Armed with a 2-0 lead, Morgan looked to pick up where he left off Sunday in Washington: he struck out four of the first six Diamondback hitters he faced.
But then, it got ugly. And it stayed ugly.
I'm done with Cesar https://t.co/QINZ1thoSU pic.twitter.com/DlUCBVS5u2
— chris jones¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@LONG_DRIVE) June 17, 2016
After back-to-back two-out singles, second baseman Cesar Hernandez charged a slow roller near first base and made the ill-advised decision to attempt to make a play. Instead, the ball trickled under his glove, allowing the lead base runner to score from second.
The very next ball was also hit in Hernandez's direction, but this time a more routine, hard ground ball right at the second-year second baseman. It went right through his legs. Tie game.
"I’m not going to criticize guys for making physical errors," Mackanin said. "Mental mistakes, I have a problem with. Physical ones I don’t. I don’t like them, but it’s part of it. ... I wish you wouldn’t strike out or make an error. It’s just what it is."
"I could have done a better job of picking up my teammates," said Morgan, who was charged with seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits while striking out eight and walking no one in 4 1/2 innings. "More times than not they’re going to make those plays. That’s no excuse for how the ballgame went."
#phillies https://t.co/QINZ1thoSU pic.twitter.com/mrbJx7hIii
— chris jones¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@LONG_DRIVE) June 18, 2016
After that, it was a series of home runs – a six-pack of long balls in the span of five innings – and a badly botched rundown play that, instead of allowing Morgan to more easily escape a troublesome fifth inning, set the table for O'Brien's first home run, a three-run blast in the fifth.
And then the unruly fan ran onto the field and the security staff was so shell shocked from what they've had to watch from their posts in the last 72 hours that they briefly forgot to respond. But when you're watching baseballs leave the playing surface at the rate they have in the last three nights in Philly (and four games in total), it's easy to go numb.
"So much for my team meeting," Mackanin said with a self-deprecating laugh.
The first-year manager called his team together following Thursday night's 13-2 drubbing to the Jays to "let them know (he) wasn't pleased." The Phils followed that 13-2 rout with a 10-2 shellacking.
"That didn’t do a whole lot," Mackanin said. "But, like I said, I’m going to continue to encourage them and keep their heads screwed on straight. I’m going to talk to 3-4 of them individually tomorrow to let them know that’s part of the game. It’s so much mental. They have to fight their way back, fight their way back to where we were in the first two months."
• The Good: Cameron Rupp (2-for-4) had two of the Phillies seven hits, including a ball that was an inch or so away from being a three-run home run (but was instead a two-run triple). Rupp's .740 OPS is 7th best among major league catchers with at least 150 plate appearances this season.
• The Bad: Phillies pitchers have allowed a combined 56 hits, eight doubles, one triple, and 17 home runs over the last four games. The opposition is hitting .352 (56-for-159) against the Phillies in their last four games.
"We’re keeping our head up," Adam Morgan said. "We’re going out there and trying to get better. There’s only one thing you can do and that’s to go out there and try to fix things that we lack, and try to go out and attack hitters. There is no other way about it."
I MEAN, I'M REALLYYYY DONE WITH CESAR https://t.co/QINZ1thoSU pic.twitter.com/X2Nj04o9M9
— chris jones¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@LONG_DRIVE) June 17, 2016
• The Ugly: Cesar Hernandez has made seven errors in 63 games (253 total chances) this year. Among major league second baseman, only Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips (nine in 60 games, 301 total chances) has more. The guy Hernandez replaced, Chase Utley, has made just one error in 59 games (203 total chances) this year with the Dodgers.
Follow Ryan on Twitter: @ryanlawrence21
