Defense, bats doom Phillies in series opener vs. Nationals despite good outing from Cristopher Sánchez

Some starters will retire to the clubhouse immediately after their outing is done. Or they’ll get treatment, do a workout, or watch video. Everyone is different. But on Friday night, Cristopher Sánchez threw his final pitch and decided to wait a while.

He walked up the dugout steps, hung his arms over the railing, and watched as his team went to bat in the bottom of the sixth at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies trailed by a run after Sánchez gave up a two-run home run to Stone Garrett in the second following a throwing error by Trea Turner that put a man on. Regardless, Sánchez went six strong innings, his longest start of the season. When he did find himself in jams, he was able to get out of them. Sixty-three of his 87 pitches were strikes. He allowed six hits, two runs (one earned), and one walk with six strikeouts in the 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Sánchez is not a flame-thrower like Andrew Painter, who was the presumptive fifth starter before he got hurt in spring training, but the lefty has been quietly reliable for the Phillies since his call-up on June 17. Manager Rob Thomson has noticed.

“He’s been really good,” he said. “We gave him the ball the first night in Oakland, and he’s kind of run with it. He’s given us some good outings. And that’s what you need from your fifth starter. He’s really calm, he’s filling up the strike zone, and his stuff’s good now.”

Initially, it looked like the Phillies would reward their starter’s performance in the sixth. Trea Turner led off with a single to center field. Nick Castellanos followed with a single to right field to put runners on first and second. Turner stole third base, and Castellanos later swiped second. But Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto popped out and Bryson Stott struck out, and the momentum was gone.

“Disappointing,” Thomson said. “We just didn’t get it done. We had opportunities to score. In the seventh, we had a leadoff double from [Alec] Bohm, and he never moved. So those are the things that we’ve got to do. We’ve got to clean that up a little bit.

“We’ve got to start hitting with runners in scoring position. That’s a tough thing to do sometimes, but we’ve got to get it done.”

Anyone who is familiar with the 2023 Phillies should be familiar with this outcome. They rank second-to-last in baseball in slugging percentage with runners in scoring position (.345). It’s a troubling trend. And it cost them on Friday.

The Phillies were facing Josiah Gray, who entered his start with a 5.64 career ERA in 30⅓ innings against them. Despite that history, Gray entered his start with a 2.48 ERA on the road this season, which ranks second in the National League. He was just as dominant on Friday.

Gray allowed only three hits that clocked in at 95 mph or harder. His line was almost identical to Sánchez’s — six hits, one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts in six innings. He was locating his all of his pitches well, and, by end of the night, had 20 swings and misses.

“I thought he was on,” Schwarber said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap. That guy was locating his fastball, if he was missing, he was just missing. There weren’t many blatant balls to get guys to have bad chases. It was more he was around the zone with everything tonight. He did a good job.”

Despite that, this was a winnable game for the Phillies. The Nationals have a bullpen ERA of 4.81, fourth-worst in baseball. But Thomson’s squad still couldn’t do damage.

What’s worse is that the Phillies’ opportunities to score often came with veteran sluggers at the plate. Harper and Realmuto couldn’t capitalize in the sixth, and Schwarber grounded out to end the seventh following Bohm’s leadoff double. Bohm, the Phillies’ seven-hole hitter, was the only player to drive in a run on Friday with his second-inning single. By the end of the night, it was Sánchez who was charged with the loss.

The Phillies are now at the halfway mark of their season. They are 43-38, on pace for 86 wins, and sit in third place in the National League East. In some ways, their 81st game felt emblematic of how they’ve played of late. Their pitching has carried them. But that won’t work every night. And when they’ve lost, it’s often been because the bats or the defense lets them down.

Thomson conceded where they are now is not where they want to be. But it’s certainly better than where they were.

“Well, I feel good about the month of June,” Thomson said. “We’ve got to keep it going. Because I think if you look at the talent on this roster, it’s better than an 86-win club, in my mind. That might be different for somebody else. But in my mind, it’s better. So we’ve got to keep playing, keep preparing, keep competing, and the talent will rise.”

» READ MORE: Mistakes are ‘going to happen’ for Bryce Harper at first base, but Rob Thomson says that’s part of the process

This game could’ve gone into extra innings if weren’t for Turner’s throwing error in the second. Instead of recording the second out of the inning, Keibert Ruiz reached base, and Garrett launched his homer the very next at-bat. In the fourth inning, Schwarber fumbled a catchable ball in left field to allow Garrett to reach second base.

According to Fangraphs, the Phillies have a team defensive runs saved of minus-21, which ranks 25th in the majors.