Bad things comes in clusters.
A fourth straight loss for the Philadelphia Phillies Saturday night was coupled with a late-game departure by catcher J.T. Realmuto.
The 35-year-old exited the 3-1 loss in the seventh inning with lower back tightness. Rafael Marchán replaced him.
The injury was thought to have occurred during Saturday's game, but manager Rob Thomson disclosed postgame that the catcher "jammed his knee and jammed his back" trying to receive a throw from Adolis García in the second inning of Friday's 9-0 loss.
Thomson confirmed the knee is fine, but Realmuto was getting his back checked out when the skipper took the podium to address the media Saturday night.
"I doubt if he'll play tomorrow (Sunday)," Thomson said.
Realmuto was 0-for-2 against former Cy Young winner Chris Sale Saturday with the Phillies only mustering one run courtesy of rookie Felix Reyes' first-career blast in his first big league at-bat.
The Phillies signed Realmuto to a three-year $45 million contract this offseason after missing out on Bo Bichette.
Marchán will most likely get the start behind the plate Sunday and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in Realmuto's abscence. The backup backstop is just 1-for-23 at the dish to start the season with that lone hit being a home run back on March 30 against Washington.
The Phillies enter the series finale in fourth place in the NL East, only ahead of the spiraling Mets who have lost 10 straight games and 5 ½ games back of Atlanta.
