With their backs against the wall, facing elimination – the Philadelphia Phillies were in New York with their season on the line in Game 4 of the NLDS Wednesday night. Starting pitcher Ranger Suárez put on a gutsy performance to make it through 4.1 innings, but the pitching staff was unable to avoid the inevitable breaking that typically follows the constant bending they saw throughout the night.
We have all off-season to question players, decisions, roster alignment, etc. For now, let’s see what happened to make Philly pack their bags and lose in an earlier round for the third straight season.
Alec Bohm’s night
A game after he was seen extremely emotional on the bench, Alec Bohm’s night didn’t start in an ideal way. In both the first and second innings, Bohm made what would be described as mental mistakes in the field. On a Pete Alonso grounder in the first, he appeared to not know what he wanted to do with the ball. He whiffed on a tag attempt on the runner headed to third, then looked toward second before trying to get the Mets slugger. After a challenge on the initial out call, Alonso was ruled safe.
In the second inning, a slow roller headed toward third base off the bat of Mets third baseman Mark Vientos. It appeared Bohm was thinking of letting the ball come to him to step on third base for a force-out, but the speedy Starling Marte forced him into another moment of indecision. What felt like a guaranteed out instead led to bases loaded. Lucky for Bohm, his starting pitcher managed to escape both innings with no damage.
Bohm eventually knocked in the only run Philadelphia would score, which amounted to a moment of turnabout. With runners on second and third, Bohm chopped a ball for the Mets third baseman, who couldn’t quite focus on the task at hand, watching home plate instead of seeing the ball into his glove.
Later, Alec almost got himself thrown out of the game. He had a chance to put a runner in scoring position in the eighth inning, but first base umpire Carlos Torres ruled his hit down the line foul. The Phillies’ first base coach, Paco Figueroa, had to step in between the umpire and his third baseman to prevent him from being tossed after he emphatically showed the umpire where he felt it cross the first base bag.
After a rough few weeks and a very tough series, Bohm was ready to let it all out on Torres—but cooler heads prevailed. This may be a tough off-season for Bohm. The Phillies hope it will be a character-builder rather than one that ruins his mentality.
Ranger flirted with Danger
Phillies manager Rob Thomson had a choice on his hands – go with his All-Star left-hander, who he previously scheduled to pitch Game 4, or go to his ace Zack Wheeler on short rest. After Game 3, he confirmed everyone would be available, but he preferred to use Wheeler only in an emergency situation.
Suárez may have struggled mightily in the second half, dealing with various injuries including lower back tightness, but his playoff numbers speak for themselves – a 1.62 ERA coming into the game, the Phillies needed Mr. Rager to find that form once more if they had any shot of surviving for a Game 5.
Suárez did not look sharp to start the game. He threw 30 pitches in the first, 53 through two, and set some history along the way. He became the first pitcher in postseason history to allow 4+ hits and 2+ walks in their first two innings and not allow a run to score. He gutted it out and was able to settle in a bit, finishing with a decent line despite those early struggles: 4.1 IP, five hits, four walks, and eight strikeouts—six coming on the curve ball.
Offensive approach
The Phillies have star power up and down their lineup, and after two deep postseason runs, they spoke of the confidence they had coming into the series. Experience can mean a lot, but the Phillies lineup felt more like a team trying to survive than a division winner with years of fight under their belt.
After chasing pitches out of the zone at a 30% clip during the regular season, they reached a 35% clip through the first three games of the series. In the early innings, it felt like they made an adjustment – chasing just 22.2% through the first two innings. As the game went on, that number steadily climbed. Through inning No. 6, that jumped to 31% of Mets strikes being swung at out of the zone by Phillies hitters.
The final number did settle lower than the 25% they started with coming into the season, but the book on this club remained a non-fiction tale – they will swing at pitches out of the zone from the top of the lineup through the bottom.
Philadelphia’s lineup didn’t record a hit until the fourth, where they would go on to score their only run. They attempted to make some noise late, avoiding swinging at pitches way out of the zone and getting a few base runners with an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth, but it was too little too late.
Kyle Schwarber came up with two runners on and two outs. The problem was the man on the mound had his number. Schwarber was 0-for-9 vs. Edwin Diaz coming into the game, with seven strikeouts. Diaz would punch him out once more and punch the Mets’ ticket to the National League Championship Series on a 101.1 MPH fastball – his fastest of the year.
Final
Despite all the struggles, the frustration, and the lack of big hits in big moments – Philly still entered the bottom of the sixth frame with a 1-0 lead. Phillies stud reliever Jeff Hoffman remained in the game after throwing just seven pitches to escape a jam in relief of Suárez. He promptly put the first three Mets hitters on. He would force a fielder’s choice grounder to get the first out at the plate.
His manager came out of the dugout and would call on his closer, Carlos Estévez, to face the heart and face of the Mets – Francisco Lindor. New York’s leader got to Philly’s big right-hander the night before, hitting an RBI double in the 9th. Lindor would get to him once again, this time driving the ball out of the park for a grand slam – shutting the proverbial coffin on the Phillies 2024 campaign.
For a team that finished with the National League East crown and the second-best record in all of baseball, there are some major decisions to be made. Phillies President of Baseball Operations, Dave Dombrowski, can expect to be very busy if he wants to get his owner John Middleton‘s *bleeping* trophy back in 2025.
