Phillies waste JT Realmuto’s game-tying home run in another loss to Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — In the moment, all things considered, it was the biggest swing of the Phillies’ season.

One inning later, it scarcely mattered.

J.T. Realmuto picked the sliding Phillies up off the canvas in the eighth inning Sunday by mashing a hanging slider for a game-tying, three-run homer. He pointed at the dugout, rounded the bases, and bashed elbows with Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm.

It was refreshing, like a cool breeze off San Francisco Bay.

“I thought we were going to win the game at that point,” Realmuto said later. “Honestly.”

But the Phillies are swooning again in September. And a six-game West Coast trip ended as miserably as it began when the Giants’ Wilmer Flores hooked a two-run walk-off homer inside the left-field foul pole against David Robertson with two out in the ninth inning in a 5-3 loss at sold-out Oracle Park.

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The Phillies trudged off the field and headed home having lost six of seven games, including five of six in Arizona and San Francisco, where they were swept for the first time since 2018.

At least they didn’t lose ground in the playoff race. The Milwaukee Brewers lost again, leaving the Phillies’ lead for the final wild-card berth at 2½ games with 28 remaining.

But that’s little consolation for mistrusting fans of a team that is now 47-72 after Sept. 1 since 2018.

“It’s just a completely different club than we’ve had in years past,” said Realmuto, who has been here since 2019. “Obviously this road trip went nothing like we wanted it to. But we still have a nice lead on the wild-card spot. We just have to play better baseball. That’s really all it comes down to.”

Specifically, it comes down to starting pitching. Ranger Suárez got through only four innings, par for the course lately for him and the Phillies’ other starters.

Suárez bookended the trip with troublesome fourth innings last Monday in Arizona and in the finale against the Giants. He joined Aaron Nola, Bailey Falter, Kyle Gibson, and Noah Syndergaard in totaling 24 innings on the six-game trip.

“We haven’t had much length on the trip, but we’ll get that back,” interim manager Rob Thomson. “I’m sure of it. I have a lot of confidence in our starters.”

OK, but it goes beyond the past week. Over the last 17 games, Phillies starters have completed the sixth inning seven times. The only starters to get through seven were Gibson on Aug. 27 against Pittsburgh, Nola on Aug. 25 against Cincinnati, and Syndergaard on Aug. 22 against the Reds.

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It’s notable, too, because at a time when teams intentionally cut their starters short and rely on deep bullpens, the Phillies are built to have their starters log innings. Nola, injured Zack Wheeler, and Gibson, in particular, rank third, fourth, and 12th in innings among all pitchers since 2020.

And it has taken a toll on the bullpen. Lefty reliever Brad Hand threw 38 pitches Saturday, and walked in the decisive run in the sixth inning. Robertson was left to throw a season-high 41 pitches Sunday.

“I felt good,” Robertson said. “Other than walking the leadoff batter, like you never want to do in the ninth, I felt really good.”

Ah, yes. Walks. That’s another problem.

Phillies pitchers issued 29 walks on the trip, including Robertson’s ninth-inning pass to Bryce Johnson, a Giants rookie who notched his first major league hit earlier in the game. Six of those walks came with the bases loaded.

“That’s concerning,” Thomson said. “We’ve got to throw strikes.”

Said Realmuto: “I don’t know exactly how to pinpoint what happened, but that’s definitely been the issue. We’re giving up way too many free passes. Just not attacking the zone enough. We’re getting behind in the count a lot. There’s a lot of 2-1, 3-1 counts. That’s going to benefit the hitters. It’s definitely something we need to fix going forward.”

After retiring 10 of the first 11 batters, Suárez hit a wall. He issued back-to-back walks to J.D. Davis and Thairo Estrada before giving up RBI singles to LaMonte Wade Jr., Austin Wynns on a 10-pitch at-bat, and Bryce Johnson.

It marked the second consecutive start in which Suárez faded in the fourth inning.

“I can’t really tell what it is,” Suárez said through a translator, noting that he thought he was squeezed by home-plate umpire Gabe Morales in the fourth inning and must be better at regathering himself after not getting strike calls.

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Suárez has worked 127⅔ innings, surpassing his total from last season (106). Although he maintains that his arm feels fine, it’s likely that he’s tiring.

If that’s the case, the Phillies may need a starter to come in behind him down the stretch. Cristopher Sánchez is one possibility. Two others: Zach Eflin, who is attempting to come back from another knee injury, and prospect Griff McGarry, who recently moved to the bullpen at double-A Reading.

Nick Maton played a total of one inning in right field in his career, major leagues and minors, before going out there for the series finale against the Giants.

An infielder with minimal experience in left field, Maton started in right because Thomson kept lefty-hitting Brandon Marsh on the bench against Rodón and moved Matt Vierling to center field. Newly recalled outfielder Dalton Guthrie didn’t arrive from triple-A Lehigh Valley until about one hour before first pitch.

Maton made a strong throw to cut down Wynns at third base to end the long fourth inning but was unable to prevent Wade’s double from sailing over his head in the eighth.