PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Phillies are a frustrated team 21 games into the season and in the midst of an early season spiral, already sitting 6.5 games out of first place in the NL East with no reprieve in sight.
After being swept by the Atlanta Braves in a three-game set at home for the first time since 2016, the Phillies have dropped five straight after a 4-2 loss Sunday night, capping off a 2-7 homestand.
That’s the worst nine-game homestand since the team went 1-8 from June 12-21 in 2009.
“Everybody’s frustrated. Nobody’s complacent. Everybody’s working their tails off. Nobody’s happy,” Thomson said postgame.
For a second consecutive night, the Phillies jumped out to an early lead but were unable to build off the early momentum.
Trea Turner opened the bottom of the first with a single. Kyle Schwarber followed up by smacking his seventh home run of the season after an umpire review confirmed there was no fan interference, giving the local nine a 2-0 lead and fans at Citizens Bank Park some hope.
That hope quickly waned, and frustration quickly settled in.
"We’re disappointed. We are frustrated. We are trying hard, but sometimes trying too hard. The guys are upset," Thomson said.
It has been hard for both players and fans not to show their displeasure with how the first month-plus of the season has panned out. The Phillies own the worst run differential in MLB at -38.
That's even worse than the Mets, who are in the midst of their longest losing streak in over two decades with 11 consecutive losses after being swept by the Chicago Cubs, the next opponent on the schedule for the Phillies.
“You got to take the emotion out of it," Thomson said.
"This isn't football. It’s not hockey where emotion can help you. In this sport, over-emotion can often hurt you. You got to take it out of it.”
After the home run, Philadelphia only had four baserunners against Braves’ starter Grant Holmes into the fifth inning. Bryce Harper reached twice with a walk and a single; Justin Crawford singled in the fifth before being erased on a Turner fielder’s choice.
Holmes tossed 4 ⅔ innings, allowing the two runs on four hits, walked one and striking out four. He retired 13 of the final 16 batters he faced.
With the offense held in check, the Braves chipped away. Michael Harris II hit his second homer of the series in the third inning to make it 2-1. Painter did a nice job escaping further damage in the fourth inning working in and out of a 2nd and 3rd one out jam.
However, the rookie ran out of gas in the fifth inning.
"I thought he was OK," Thomson said. "He was up in the zone a lot with his fastball. Like to see him get ahead in the count a bit more. Got out of a couple of jams in the second and the fourth."
Back-to-back singles from Harris II and Acuña Jr. set the inning up nicely for Atlanta, chasing Painter out of the game after 4-plus innings. It marked the second time in four starts the highly touted prospect was unable to go five frames.
Painter struck out four and walked one in the losing effort.
Tim Mayza came in to clean up the mess but allowed both inherited runners to score on a softly hit fielder’s choice off the bat of Matt Olson and a light tapper to third from Austin Riley to give the visitors the lead before Ozzie Albies ripped a run-scoring double to make it 4-2 Atlanta.
The Phillies had multiple chances to tie the game in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings, but all of the rallies fell short.
"We are not used to this. We have to play better. You have to believe in the club because there's talent. It's not like we don't have talent, we've got talent. It just hasn't happened yet, but it will," Thomson said.
The Phillies will hope the flip of a switch happens soon.
They embark on a seven-game, seven-day road trip with a series against the Cubs and the Braves, two teams they went 1-5 against during a homestand the team and fans will like to forget.
