Wasted opportunities were the theme of the afternoon as the Philadelphia Phillies dropped the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Rookie Andrew Painter pitched a strong game, but the Phillies' offense struggled to find hits that drove in runners standing in scoring position on the day.
Painter took the loss after 6 ⅓ innings, where he allowed two earned runs, walked two batters, and struck out three hitters.
Over his last three outings, the Phillies rookie has thrown 17 ⅓ innings with a 2.63 ERA, a strong turnaround following a rocky start to his freshman campaign.
Cleveland opened the scoring in the fifth inning after Steven Kwan’s sacrifice fly to Edmundo Sosa in left field plated the first run of the contest.
The Guardians double the lead, 2-0, in the top of the sixth inning on a Rhys Hoskins double down the third base line, scoring rookie Chase DeLauter.
The Phillies responded in the bottom of the seventh inning with Brandon Marsh scoring on a Bryce Harper sacrifice fly to center field to slice the lead in half, 2-1.
Don Mattingly turned to Jonathan Bowlan for the top of the eighth inning, but the Phillies' interim skipper could only watch as Bazzana clobbered a ball into the first row of blue seats in the second deck of right field to steal the run right back for the road squad, 3-1.
Cleveland’s bullpen shut things down behind Hunter Gaddis in the eighth inning and Cade Smith in the ninth inning to claim its 32nd win of the 2026 season.
Smith, the Guardians' 27-year-old closer, secured his MLB-leading 18th save of the season. The Phillies slip back under .500 with a 26-27 record following a second consecutive series loss.
Philadelphia looks to get back on the winning track tomorrow night in San Diego, California, as they begin a three-game series at Petco Park.
Jesus Luzardo (3-4, 4.85) battles Randy Vasquez (5-2, 2.96 ERA) beginning at 6:40 pm on Monday night.
