May 07, 2022

What recent history says about the Phillies responding to a monumental collapse

The Phils blew a huge lead. They aren't the first. They won't be the last. How have teams responded in the past?

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

The Phillies held a 7-1 lead over the Mets heading into the ninth Thursday night.

Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos both homered, Aaron Nola was dealing for seven innings, and Jeurys Familia retired the side in the eighth.

All that was left was for someone else from the bullpen to cap things off. Three outs. An easy night of work, right?

Anything but.

The Mets won, 8-7.

James Norwood gave up four runs, then Corey Knebel gave up three more, blowing a save in a game that really shouldn't have become a save situation.

'It ain't over till it's over' was more of a warning for the Phils than a source of optimism.

“Piss poor,” Knebel said postgame (via MLB.com). “It shouldn’t have happened tonight. We’ve got to be better. The offense did their job tonight. The bullpen. Nola, awesome outing. The game is on me. We’ve got a six-run lead going into the ninth. It can’t happen.”

Rain postponed Friday's and Saturday's games, and a single-admission doubleheader will be played on Sunday to close out this weekend's series against the Mets.

Probably doing the Phillies a favor, all things considered.

“It’s tough,” Harper said. “But we can’t sulk.

"It’s a gut punch, but we’ve got to win the weekend.”

Recent history might bode well for that, at least in the very short term.

A collapse like Thursday night's is a tough one to swallow, but looking at regular-season losses that resulted from blown leads of four runs or more over the past six years, the losing teams are a combined 8-4 in their very next game.

The Phillies also did respond with a 4-1 win over the Mets last Saturday after they were no-hit up in Queens the night before.

Across baseball, there does seem to be a habit of bouncing back after devastating losses. But the wound is still pretty fresh, so admittedly, that's of little comfort.

Anyway, using Baseball Reference's list of regular-season comebacks, here's a look at how teams responded in their next game after blowing leads of at least four runs and losing:

Date	L	W	Blown Lead	Result	Next Game
May 5, 2022	Phillies	Mets	7-1 (6) in 9th	L, 8-7	???
Apr. 21, 2022	Mariners	Rangers	5-0 (5) in 1st	L, 8-6	W, 4-1 (vs. KC)
Apr. 11, 2022	Mets	@Phillies	4-0 (4) in 8th	L, 5-4	W, 2-0 (@PHI)
Apr. 10, 2022	Blue Jays	Rangers	6-1 (5) in 4th	L, 12-6	W, 3-0 (vs. NYY)
Aug. 30, 2020	Mets	@Yankees	7-2 (5) in 7th*	L, 8-7 (F/8)	L, 5-2 (F/8, @NYY)
Aug. 27, 2020	Mariners	@Padres	7-3 (4) in 7th*	L, 10-7	W, 8-3 (@SD)
Aug. 14, 2020	Giants	Athletics	7-2 (5) in 9th	L, 8-7 (F/10)	L, 7-6 (vs. OAK)
June 14, 2019	Rockies	Padres	11-4 (7) in 8th	L, 16-12 (F/12)	W, 14-8 (vs. SD)
Sept. 20, 2018	Rays	@Blue Jays	8-2 (6) in 9th	L, 9-8	W, 11-3 (@TOR)
May 20, 2018	Marlins	@Braves	9-4 (5) in 9th	L, 10-9	L, 2-0 (@NYM)
Apr. 9, 2017	Mariners	@Angels	9-3 (6) in 9th	L, 10-9	W, 6-0 (vs. HOU)
June 2, 2016	Padres	Mariners	12-2 (10) in 6th	L, 16-13	W, 4-0 (vs. COL)
May 28, 2016	White Sox	@Royals	7-1 (6) in 9th	L, 8-7	L, 5-4 (@KC)