Phillies get eliminated from playoffs, then watch Nationals clinch wild card

WASHINGTON — The Phillies had been eliminated from the postseason just hours earlier, but perhaps they could find some solace Tuesday night when Gabe Kapler walked from the pitcher’s mound and allowed Aaron Nola to remain in the game.

A 4-1 afternoon loss to the Nationals canceled the Phillies’ chances of October baseball, leaving little meaning for the nightcap of a doubleheader. Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper were both left out of the lineup. J.T. Realmuto continued to rest his knee. The Phillies were no longer chasing the postseason. Their disappointing season was days from a conclusion.

But there was Nola with two on and two out in the sixth inning, trying to protect a two-run lead. Perhaps the Phillies could salvage the day that officially dashed what this season was built on. Nola had thrown 108 pitches when Kapler visited him and the manager allowed him to continue.

He threw a full-count curveball to Howie Kendrick that appeared to touch the inside corner, but home-plate umpire Stu Scheurwater called it ball four. Kendrick walked, Kapler lifted Nola, and a 6-5 loss would soon be sealed to finish off the day that buried the team’s postseason chances.

» READ MORE: Game 1: Nationals 4, Phillies 1 — box score

» READ MORE: Game 2: Nationals 6, Phillies 5 — box score

“Man, did Nola earn a better result. He executed his pitches against Kendrick,” Kapler said. “When I went out there to talk to him, my main goal was to look in his eyes and make sure that he was strong. I felt very confident that he was. I gave him the opportunity to go get Kendrick. We felt like he did everything he possibly could. It was tough to not have him come away with that out in that situation. Very tough.”

Jared Hughes sprinted in from the bullpen and his second pitch left just as fast as Hughes entered. Trea Turner blasted a grand slam over the Phillies bullpen and the Nationals were three innings away from clinching a wild-card berth on the same day the Phillies were eliminated.

“We went into spring training this year, I said it. I don’t know if it’s going to be this year or next year or the next. It takes time to build something special,” Bryce Harper said. “I think as a team and an organization they’ve been there. Where we are now, they were there in ’08 and ’09 and they built it up to be the team that they are with trades and things like that. I think this franchise is going to do that.”

The Phillies, for the eighth straight season, will not reach the playoffs. After investing nearly a half-billion dollars last winter into their roster, the Phillies are eyeing a fourth-place finish. They need to win three of their final five games to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2011.

They traded their top prospect this winter to add Realmuto and signed Harper to baseball’s biggest free-agent contract to complete an offseason that infused the clubhouse with five former All Stars. The Phillies built a team they expected to win in 2019.

Branch Rickey, John Middleton said in spring training, never had the kind of offseason Matt Klentak did. The Phillies were buzzing and they did nearly everything but print the playoff tickets. But instead of preparing Citizens Bank Park for October baseball, the Phillies will spend the final days of the season just trying to stay over .500.

“It’s disappointing,” Hoskins said. “You set out at the beginning of the year, the beginning of the offseason, spring training, whatever it may be with the goal in mind, right? Obviously, we’ve come up short this year.”

The Phillies lost Odubel Herrera to suspension for domestic violence, Andrew McCutchen tore his ACL, Jake Arrieta had bone spurs in his elbow, and nearly every reliever on the opening-day roster suffered a season-ending injury. But that was not why the Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs on Tuesday afternoon.

They replaced Herrera, who had become nearly unplayable before his suspension, by moving Scott Kingery to center field. They traded for Jay Bruce and Corey Dickerson to fill the void left by McCutchen. Arrieta was lost for the season, but he has been an average major-league starter since signing with the Phillies. The bullpen was ravaged by injuries, but the unit still has baseball’s 13th-best ERA in the second half.

“We value winning,” Harper said. “I think Middleton has shown that in the past. And Klentak, going and getting guys in the offseason and doing that. Getting Cutch back next year is going to be huge for us. Getting the bullpen back, we didn’t really have our stud guys in our bullpen this year. Doing the things that we can as an organization to get better. We have a lot of guys in the minor leagues if that’s [prospects] Spencer Howard or [Alec] Bohm or anybody else who can come up and help us.”

Instead, it was the overconfidence of the front office in the starting rotation and the failure of the lineup to hit for power — in an era where everyone else seems to be hitting for power — that will send the Phillies home on Sunday.

The Phillies opted against significant upgrades to their starting rotation in the winter and during the season, instead banking on the development of Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Jerad Eickhoff, and Zach Eflin. The four combined for a 4.84 ERA. Their rotation struggled to pitch deep into games, which only tasked the shorthanded bullpen with more work.

The Phillies are on pace this season to finish with 212 homers, which is just 26 more than they finished with last year. The average major-league team is on pace to hit 40 more homers than it did last season. The Phillies, despite building a lineup they thought would hit for power, will fall short of that. They are below league average in nearly every offensive category.

“We haven’t been as consistent as a team as you would have hoped throughout the year,” Hoskins said. “We pitched well throughout the year and we hit throughout the year, but it never seemed to sync up for a long period of time. Yeah, I guess that’s what I would pin it on.”

The Phillies entered June with a three-game lead atop the National League East. They could smell October. But they were 91/2 games back by the middle of July. The postseason felt like a longshot for most of the summer. The Phillies, Kapler continued to preach, would fight. But the team has lost six of its last seven games. The fight will end Sunday. October will have to wait.

“They’re still doing what they’re doing over there,” Harper said of the Nats. “And we’re going to get on a bus to go home.”