Craig Kimbrel implodes as the Phillies earn a second straight ugly loss in the NLCS

PHOENIX — It was right there. The horde of Phillies fans who headed west could smell it.

As the night before, thousands of the 47,000 on hand wore Phillies red, white, and blue. As the night before, they suffered through hours of suddenly lousy baseball, after watching the Phillies play their best for the first eight games of the playoffs, of which they won seven. As the night before, they left demoralized, mostly thanks to closer Craig Kimbrel, but the closer was not alone.

These pilgrims had journeyed to the desert for nothing. They could have been watching a closeout game. They should have been watching a closeout game. Instead, they saw specious managing in Game 3 and putrid pitching in Game 4. They’d seen their club transform from the best team in baseball over the last two weeks into a team that resembled the Phillies who were seven games under .500 after the first two months of the season.

» READ MORE: Murphy: The Phillies have a Craig Kimbrel problem, and it just might cost them a chance at a championship

They’d seen their All-Star closer and his formerly formidable bullpen cohorts blow another late lead, this time more spectacularly than the first. The back end of a promising bullpen game quickly deteriorated: Gregory Soto, Orion Kerkering, Kimbrel, and José Alvarado turned a 5-2 lead through six innings into a 6-5 deficit to the Diamondbacks after eight. That’s how it ended Friday night, and that’s why the series stands tied, 2-2.

You can blame Kimbrel, which is easy and which is proper, but it will likely be the last time you blame him for anything. It sounds like the next big moment he’ll see is May 28, 2024, when he turns 36.

“We’ve got to talk about it,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Do you put him in a little lower-leverage spot?”

Fine. How about batting practice?

“The last two days [stunk],” Kimbrel said. “Cost us two games.”

Does he feel lost? Close?

“Not far at all,” Kimbrel said. “I’ll get ready. Grab the ball again. Go out and do my job.”

For the moment, his job description has changed. You might be able to hide a cooked closer, but the rest of the roster has to play decent baseball.

“It was just a sloppy game all around,” said catcher J.T. Realmuto, who had a passed ball in the second inning. “It’s unacceptable to play that way in a game this big.”

Saturday’s Game 5 is even bigger. Aces Zack Wheeler and Zac Gallen reprise their Game 1 duel, in which Wheeler emerged the winner.

“You wouldn’t want anybody else on the mound tomorrow. ‘Wheels’ is our guy,” Realmuto said.

So yes, they’ve got their ace on the mound, but they’ve got two back-end relievers, Kerkering and Kimbrel, who can’t hit a bull in the butt with a snow shovel. They’ve used fireman Jeff Hoffman on consecutive days. They’ve dogged Alvarado every which way; up-downs, back-to-backs, a two-inning outing Thursday, and landed on IL twice this season with elbow issues. Handle with care?

Alvarado said Friday he’d be available for Game 5. No. 3 starter Ranger Suárez, who pitched in relief on short rest last postseason, told me he wouldn’t know if he’d be available until game time.

All hands are on deck, and somebody is coming back to Philly with a 3-2 lead for Monday’s Game 6. If the Phillies keep playing this brand of unfocused, toothless baseball, it won’t be them.

Don’t put it past them. They’re a magnificent beast of a ballclub, but now they’ve lost three playoff games. They led in all three and gave all three away.

They built their Friday lead in thrilling fashion.

Kyle Schwarber’s 114-mph solo homer in the fourth that gave him the all-time playoff lead for left-handed hitters cut the D’backs’ lead in half. Alec Bohm’s infield single scored two off a poor throw home and gave the Phillies a 4-2 lead and still saw Bohm make an out at second. It was one of Bohm’s two hits, all after his second-inning error opened the door for the Diamondbacks’ first run, which shouldn’t have happened, anyway.

» READ MORE: Rob Thomson blew it for the Phillies when he brought in rookie Orion Kerkering in Game 3 of the NLCS

Johan Rojas, the rookie defensive wizard in center field who was 2-for-32 in the playoffs entering the game, ripped a one-out triple in the seventh, then scored on a sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead.

It was there for the taking.

Then came rookie reliever Kerkering, who, for the second consecutive night, was asked to pitch in a tight game, and who, for the second straight night, struggled. He’d let the Diamondbacks tie Game 3, which was just his eighth game in the majors. Friday, he inherited two runners with two out in the seventh, but he walked his first two batters, which cut the lead to 5-3 before he escaped with a groundout.

It wasn’t just Kerkering on Thursday, and it wasn’t him alone on Friday, either. He wasn’t awful; just not good enough. Again.

“Tonight, maybe he got sped up a little bit,” Thomson said.

Kerkering’s appearance set up Kimbrel, which set up a rapid, resounding doom:

Leadoff double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. One-out homer to pinch-hitter Alek Thomas. Single to leadoff hitter Ketel Marte. Hit Corbin Carroll. Gone.

Alvarado, off that two-inning outing Thursday, entered, gave up an RBI single to Gabriel Moreno, and that was pretty much that.

For the second night in a row, the Phils had a chance to win. For the second night in a row, they didn’t deserve it. And it didn’t happen. There was just so much bad baseball.

Trea Turner got caught stealing with Bryce Harper at the plate and one out in the first inning.

Turner hadn’t been caught stealing all year, but to be fair, he was duped by Joe Mantiply’s pickoff move to first, and was thrown out on a pickoff. Still, it set a tone.

Bohm’s throwing error on the most basic of plays opened the second inning. One out later, starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez forgot there was only one out and, on a hard ground ball back to him, did not throw to second base for a double play but rather threw slowly to first base. Even Realmuto, a Gold Glove nominee, called one pitch, received another, and the ball got past him.

If there’s beauty in the desert, it has eluded the Phillies. The previous evening, coming off a stretch in which they hit a record 15 homers in four games, they’d been unable to touch rookie Brandon Pfaadt with a 3-9 record and a 5.72 ERA. They had the manager entrust a 1-0 lead to a seven-game rookie in his first full professional season. Kerkering struggled, and Kimbrel burst into flames.

» READ MORE: Aaron Nola has earned his millions with two payoff playoff runs. Pay him, Phillies.

When it was over it was hard to remember that the Phillies led, 5-2 at one point, back in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Bohm managed an infield single to third base. Third baseman Emmanuel Rivera threw home, but wildly, which not only let Schwarber score but also Turner right behind him.

Somehow, still, they soiled their finest moment.

Bohm noticed the chaos at home plate, but a bit too late. Desperate to beat out a throw at first, he’d run nearly onto the outfield grass. By then catcher Moreno had retrieved the ball, and he nailed Bohm at second for a free out. An out this team can never afford to give away.

Not when it’s playing like this.