Citi Field brings out the worst in the Philadelphia Phillies. After the New York Mets swept them for the second time in Queens this season, the Phillies’ losing streak at their house of horrors has reached 10 games, including last year’s NLDS. Philadelphia’s NL East lead has shrunk to four games, and the Mets now own the tiebreaker should both teams finish with identical records.
Following the 6-0 loss where the Phillies showed no fight, Bryce Harper sounded the alarm.
“It’s a good team over there, obviously,” Harper told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber. “Teams can get hot and get hot at the right time and get rolling. But I trust everyone in here. We’ve got to have a sense of urgency to win games. We’ve got to show up and play our best baseball, especially right now and down the stretch.”
Offensive Struggles Plague Philadelphia Again
The Phillies suffered spectacular meltdowns in the first two games of the series, blowing leads of 3-0 and 2-0 before losing 13-3 and 6-5.
Their offense struggled mightily with runners in scoring position, finishing 3-for-22, bringing back flashbacks to last year’s postseason ineptness. Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto were hitless in the series, combining to go 0-for-23 with five strikeouts. Trea Turner managed just 3-for-14 with five strikeouts, while Harper went 5-for-13 with two RBI and four strikeouts.
“That shouldn’t happen,” Harper said. “We shouldn’t have come in here and had those types of games.”
Harper added: “It’s [about] understanding that we have to have a sense of urgency as well, you know? We can’t just say, ‘Hey, we’re four games up, and we’ve got a lead on them.'”
The Phillies need to flush this sweep quickly as they begin a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night. If not, they could soon find themselves looking up at the Mets in the NL East standings.
