As news of a new relief pitcher acquisition swirled in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Phillies witnessed a bullpen collapse as they dropped their series finale against the Chicago White Sox 9-3. The Phillies leave the South Side of Chicago
A tie game for Taijuan
Designated hitter Kyle Teel led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run into right field. Luis Robert Jr., who has been connected to the Phillies in recent trade talks, followed up with a single into left field. Robert almost attempted to extend it into a double, however a strong throw from Brandon Marsh forced Robert to retreat. Robert then attempted to steal second base anyway, getting thrown out by catcher Rafael Marchán in the process.
A couple innings later, Bryce Harper recorded the Phillies’ first hit of the day, a double into right field. Nick Castellanos followed up with a single into left, scoring Harper to tie the contest. After a single from Brandon Marsh moved Castellanos into scoring position, Otto Kemp singled up the middle to give the Phillies the lead as Castellanos scored on the play.
The Phillies’ lead would not last the inning though as Colson Montgomery hit the second solo home run of the day off Taijuan Walker to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Walker finished his day after the fifth inning, allowing two runs on seven hits. The veteran right-hander walked and struck out zero batters, and his ERA stands at 3.82 to end the day.
Bullpen disaster
Tanner Banks entered to pitch a scoreless sixth inning before passing the baton to Max Lazar. In the bottom of the seventh, however, the skies opened up against the bullpen. Lazar managed only one out on the inning, allowing seven hits including a three-run home run from Miguel Vargas.
He exited with two runners on base as Seth Johnson entered. Johnson recorded the first strikeout of the day for the Phillies but also allowed a three-run home run to Edgar Quero, closing the book on scoring for the inning.
Overall, Lazar was credited for six runs on 0.1 innings while Johnson got docked one run in 0.2 innings.
Late attempts come up short
The Phillies went out swinging in the final two innings. Johan Rojas and Rafael Marchán hit back-to-back singles to start the top of the eighth inning. Two outs later, Bryce Harper hit a fly ball 356 feet into left field, just over the outfield fence. Andrew Benintendi, however, reached over the fence to make the home run-stealing grab, ending the inning and preventing the Phillies from cutting into the White Sox’s seven-run lead.
After a fly-out from Weston Wilson, who pinch hit for Nick Castellanos to lead off the ninth, Brandon Marsh looked to start a rally with a solo shot into right field. Otto Kemp then struck out for the second out of the inning.
Down to their last out, Bryson Stott and Rojas reached base on a single and error, respectively to keep the inning alive. Marchán then popped out to third base on a fastball to end the contest.
Moving forward
The Phillies now end the month with as 12-11 record on July. With a day off scheduled for Thursday, the Phillies will return home for their weekend series against the Detroit Tigers.
While the team travels, the city will await any additional moves before the trade deadline passes at 6:00 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Phillies have already traded for reliever Jhoan Duran and they have been connected to several potential position players as well.
“We’re not done talking and the deadline’s not over,” said Phillies’ President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski. “We’ll just see what ends up happening.”
Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
