Phillies' bats go cold in Game 1 loss to Dodgers, mirroring past postseason struggles
The calendar year was different, but Game 1 of the NLDS felt the same as last year.
The Phillies offense went cold at the most inopportune time, unable to capitalize on an early three-run lead the same lineup created. J.T. Realmuto hit a two-run triple in the second inning to put the Phillies up two runs on the defending World Series champions. Citizens Bank Park was as loud as it could get, with all the momentum on the Phillies side.
Then the offense pressed pause, never bothering to hit the play button again.
In Saturday's Game 1 loss to the Dodgers, the Phillies offense went 3-for-27 the rest of the way in a 5-3 defeat -- a paltry .111 in the final 7+ innings. The only hits were a single from Bryson Stott in the fifth, a single from Bryce Harper in the eighth and a double from Max Kepler in the ninth.
They also reached base twice via the walk, once on a hit by pitch, and another on an error. The Phillies had two men on base in the fifth, bases loaded in the eighth and a runner on third in the ninth. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position during that stretch.
Looked like the Phillies that showed up in Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS and the entire 2024 NLDS, a reputation they are trying to avoid.
"This is never gonna be easy," said Kyle Schwarber following an 0-for-4 performance with three strikeouts. "You're facing the best of the best up here. It's up to us to be able to make the adjustments and doing everything possible to put ourselves in position to win a baseball game."
The top of the order came up small for the Phillies, finishing 1-for-11 with a walk and five strikeouts. They couldn't figure out Shohei Ohtani as he mastered them with his arsenal of pitches, as Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper went a combined 0-for-9 facing him with four strikeouts.
"I though Ohtani threw the ball really well," Harper said. "We jumped on him and we kinda laid low there for a little bit...I thought we missed some pitches over the plate and chasing a little bit, but we missed some pitches that we could have done some damage on. We just didn't get it done."
That's been the issue for the Phillies offense in the last three postseasons, which have led to seasons ending earlier than expected. Game 1 was no different, as the Phillies have never won a series in which they lost the opening game (0-8). Even Citizens Bank Park hasn't had the home-field advantage as it once was for this club, as the Phillies have lost four of their last five postseason games in their home ballpark going back to Game 6 of the 2023 NLCS.
The offense in those games have fizzled, despite some promising starts in three of those games. Saturday night was the most promising, as the Phillies jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second inning with Ohtani on the mound. Ohtani was rattled and the crowd was ready for this team to be different -- like they were the majority of this season.
Then, the ghosts of postseason past emerged. The offense couldn't get that extra run or two and allowed the Dodgers to crawl back in a game they seemed to be out of. The crushing blow was Teoscar Hernandez's three-run home run off Matt Strahm with two outs in the seventh to give Los Angeles a 5-3 lead.
The Phillies got five men on base after that point, but couldn't drive anyone in. The offense couldn't get the hit nor run when they needed, similar to those Phillies teams in the playoffs in years past.
The scene seemed all too familiar.
"It's up to us to go up there and keep having quality at bats," Schwarber said. "It's the postseason. This is about the whole team. We have to be able to learn and move on to the next game."
The Phillies don't have a choice. They can't carry the ice cold offense from game to game like in years past, even though Game 1 wasn't reassuring to the city of Philadelphia. There's still a chance to change the narrative.
"You show up tomorrow ready to put work in," Marsh said. "Then you show up Monday ready to go to war again. It's just important that we flush this and come back Monday with some controlled, corrected anger."