Brandon Marsh’s two miscues prove costly in 8-1 loss to Yankees that drops Phillies to 0-4

NEW YORK — Brandon Marsh stayed there, down on his hands and knees, facing third base, for a few extra seconds. He removed his helmet and leaned on it as he got to his feet. He shook his head and looked up at the sky.

Absent a hole in the Yankee Stadium turf into which he could crawl, he had no place else to go.

Marsh brings primarily defense and energy to the Phillies. But he made two blunders Monday night — one in the field, the other on the bases — in an 8-1 trouncing by the Yankees, the fourth loss in as many games on a season-opening road trip from hell.

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How hellish? The Phillies have been outscored 37-12 — 37-7 after seizing a 5-0 lead against Jacob deGrom on opening day in Texas — and outhomered 8-1. They are 0-4 for the ninth time in their 141-year history and the first time since 2016.

“Hundred and fifty-eight more [games],” Marsh said. “A lot of ball to play. It’s not time to hit the panic button right now. We’re four games in. Just frustrated about tonight.”

Indeed, the Phillies need only look to the 2021 Braves to find a team that lost its first four games of the season and wound up winning the World Series. But they’re also the first reigning pennant-winner to start 0-4 since the 1984 Orioles, who finished 85-77 and missed the playoffs.

The latest loss featured plenty of culprits, from the pitchers who allowed two more home runs to the offense that went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Kyle Schwarber is 1-for-17 in four games; Nick Castellanos is hitless in his last 10 at-bats.

But Marsh’s mistakes stood out every bit as much as he does with his long, wet hair and bushy beard.

Start at the start. The travel-weary Phillies got into New York at 4 a.m. after a Sunday night game in Texas, so the last thing they needed was for Marsh to play DJ LeMahieu’s sinking line drive into a triple to open the Yankees’ two-run first inning against starter Taijuan Walker.

When Marsh realized he wasn’t going to catch the ball, he didn’t get his glove down and overran the ball. After initially charging a two-base error, the official scorer changed it to a triple because the ball never touched Marsh’s glove, which, of course, was exactly the problem.

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“It’s unacceptable,” Marsh said. “Things like that can’t happen, especially against teams like this. I’ve got to be better, we‘ve got to be better. It’s just plain and simple. That can’t happen, and that’s on me. That’s not on Taijuan. That’s not on anyone else but me. I’ve got to own up to it. I’ve got to be a lot better.”

The defensive gaffe seemed to bother Marsh more than his miscue on the bases. But when he got thrown out at third base — on a brilliant play by Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes — to end the fifth inning, it swung the momentum away from the Phillies.

Because they trailed only 3-1 when J.T. Realmuto lined a two-out single to right field with Marsh on second base. Franchy Cordero overthrew home plate, but Cortes alertly backed up the play. Marsh rounded third and froze after getting a stop sign from coach Dusty Wathan. Cortes fired the ball to third, where LeMahieu slapped the tag on Marsh’s back.

So, rather than having runners on first and third with two out for Nick Castellanos, the Phillies’ rally fizzled. And the Yankees answered in the bottom of the fifth with LeMahieu’s leadoff single against Walker and Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer against reliever Yunior Marté to break open the game.

“Took a hard turn, looked up, saw the hands up,” Marsh said. “It was the right decision. I saw the overthrow, and Nestor made a heck of play.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson thought Wathan put up the stop sign early enough in anticipation of Cordero making a better throw. But Marsh didn’t pick up Wathan quickly enough.

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“He ran with his head down and didn’t see Dusty with his hands up,” Thomson said. “I thought had his hands up in plenty of time to hold him. He just got around too far.”

It’s what happens to teams that aren’t going well. And now, unless reliever-turned-starter Matt Strahm can play stopper Tuesday night or the Phillies can hit Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on Wednesday, they could be 0-6 when they return to Citizens Bank Park for the home opener.

“You don’t want to start 0-4, that’s for sure, but if we lost four in a row in July, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal,” Thomson said. “It looks a little bit worse when you start the season.”

Marsh’s miscue put Walker in an immediate bind in his Phillies debut. He threw 33 pitches in the first inning, and at one point, Marté began to loosen in the bullpen.

But Walker rebounded after the first inning. He allowed a two-out solo homer to Gleyber Torres on a full-count fastball in the third but little else in pitching into the fifth inning.

Walker’s velocity, which dipped in his final spring training start, also came back nicely. He topped out at 96 mph, sat comfortably at 94, and allayed any outside concerns (Thomson said before the game that the Phillies weren’t worried) that something was amiss.

“I think I was trying to be too cute in that first inning instead of attacking them,” Walker said. “Thirty-three pitches in an inning is always going to be taxing. Pitch count got high, but after that, I settled in. It just sucks that I had to throw so many pitches in the first.”

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