Phillies surrender eight home runs in a blowout loss to the A’s

The Phillies finished their first half with a franchise-record 62 wins, so it was only fitting that they lost their final game before the All-Star break in blowout fashion to the 37-win A’s. There was not much to read into. Manager Rob Thomson called his team’s 18-3 loss a “weird day all around.”

“I mean, these guys can swing the bats, and they’ll put up runs in bunches,” he said. “I just kind of throw today out.”

The A’s did that and more. They scored 18 runs on 15 hits, and hit eight home runs off Phillies pitching. The 18 runs and eight homers allowed were both season worsts for the Phillies.

It got ugly from the second inning on. Thomson said that long man Michael Mercado struggled in his previous start because he was pitching on four days’ rest. But on Sunday, the Phillies rookie struggled again, and the reason was less clear.

Orion Kerkering pitched a 1-2-3 first inning, and Mercado pitched behind him. He allowed six earned runs on five hits — including three home runs — with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 77 pitches, of which 46 were strikes.

Two of the homers Mercado allowed came off the bat of A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker, who finished his day with five RBIs.

“I think the first thing was getting his feet underneath him, and then he settled in and started throwing strikes and getting ahead of people, and then he just got tired, at the end,” Thomson said of Mercado. “The problem was that we were shorthanded in the bullpen. I was just trying to stretch these guys as much as I could, really to get through the game.”

Mercado is 25 years old and three games into his big league career. He’s expected to stumble here and there, especially early on. But he was only part of the problem on Sunday afternoon.

Seranthony Domínguez allowed two homers over 1⅓ innings, and Matt Strahm relieved him in the seventh. Strahm induced a sacrifice fly and struck out Shea Langeliers to end the inning.

José Ruiz also allowed two home runs — one to Seth Brown and another to Lawrence Butler, who smacked three homers. It was an uncharacteristically poor showing from a bullpen that has been a strength for the Phillies this season. Their relievers entered Sunday’s game with a combined 3.35 ERA, which ranked third in MLB. It has since ballooned to 3.79.

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By the ninth inning, catcher Garrett Stubbs was on the mound, which is not something a World Series contending team ever wants to see. Zack Gelof hit a grand slam off Stubbs to give the A’s an 18-3 lead.

Losing two of three to the A’s was a strange way to send the Phillies into the All-Star break, especially after they swept the 56-win Dodgers at home. But most of the players and coaches were focused on the position they’ve put themselves in to enter the second half.

“You can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said shortstop Trea Turner. “We just got our butts kicked today, but it was a good first half, a lot to build on in the second half. I think the break came at a good time for us. And get refreshed, come back, and be ready to play.”

The Phillies’ pitching lost them the game, but the lineup didn’t help much, either. Turner went 2-for-2 with a home run and finished his first half hitting .349/.395/.546. But it was an otherwise quiet offensive day. The lineup combined for just three runs on four hits with one walk. The Phillies had only two opportunities with runners in scoring position and went 0-for-2.

They are ready for a reset, and will get one for the next few days. After the All-Star break, the Phillies’ next series will be in Pittsburgh from July 19-21.

“It’s not the way you want it to end, but we’ve had a great first half,” said Thomson. “We still had a 4-2 homestand. You’re going to have games like that, but it’s still a really good first half.”