PHILADELPHIA — It had all the makings of a postseason showdown.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. Chris Sale. First place vs. second place. Phillies vs. Braves.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, the opener of a pivotal four-game set played out much like a postseason game from recent seasons.
The Braves did just enough against Sánchez, they made the plays they needed to and their bullpen shut the door. The Phillies, meanwhile, came up short in each of those areas in Friday night’s 5-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think every [game] is pressure now,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “We’re not in the playoffs, not guaranteed anything. So, every game’s pressure at this point, pretty much the rest of the way.”
Six of the Phillies’ final 21 games will come against the Braves — including three more in this series — though they now have to win all six in order to secure the tiebreaker.
“I mean, obviously not the way we wanted to start the series,” first baseman Alec Bohm said. “ … We understand it’s a big series, and if we come in here and have a really good series, we could shake some things up a little bit.”
By the end of the night, though, the only potential “shake-up” might be in the Phillies’ bullpen. On a night when rookie Alex McFarlane once again shined, fellow right-hander Orion Kerkering gave up a crucial two-run homer in the eighth.
But that all came long after the Phillies had their chances — on both sides of the ball.
It started in the second inning, when the Braves put two on with one out against Sánchez. Austin Riley then lined a ball through the right side toward a hard-charging Bryce Harper in right field.
Lane Thomas, despite initially freezing at second base, was waved furiously toward the plate. As Harper came up ready to throw, however, the ball was not in his glove. It had skipped past him, allowing Thomas to score easily and Mauricio Dubón to go first to third.
Now, it’s anyone’s guess as to how that potential play at the plate would have gone — or how the rest of the inning may have played out. What did happen, though, is the Braves ultimately scored three runs before Sánchez could put an end to the rally.
Philadelphia never fully recovered.
Bohm had an RBI double and a solo homer off Sale — but he did not get much help.
The Phillies went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded five runners. Their best chance came in the fifth, when they had runners on second and third following Trea Turner’s two-out double.
Harper, whose 35-game on-base streak came to an end, popped out to end the threat. One inning later, Luis Arraez ripped a leadoff double to put the potential tying run in scoring position, only to never advance beyond second base.
“Any time you’re facing a guy of that caliber, you really need to capitalize on every little opportunity we get,” Bohm said. “ … We did enough to get to him, but we didn’t get the big hit when we really needed it.”
Locked in a one-run game through six innings, Mattingly turned to McFarlane for the seventh. He responded with a scoreless inning in which all eight of his pitches were for strikes.
“He’s really good. I’m glad he’s on our team,” Bohm said. “I feel like he’s just getting more and more confident every time he gets out there, and that’s going to be huge for us down the stretch. He’s got elite stuff. [He’s] a very talented arm.
“The more and more that kid can get his feet wet for us and just get comfortable out there, it’s going to be really important.”
McFarlane now has a 0.79 ERA through 11 career appearances — and he’s already earning higher-leverage looks.
“He’s been working his way up, for sure,” Mattingly said. “He’s throwing the ball [well]. There’s nothing not to like at this point.”
The same can not be said for Kerkering. The righty continued to trend in the opposite direction, allowing the back-breaking two-run homer to Dubón in the eighth.
Kerkering has now allowed five earned runs over his past four outings, and has conceded at least one run in five of his past six appearances. His ERA has jumped from 2.43 at the All-Star break to 4.12.
“The stuff’s plenty good enough,” Mattingly said of Kerkering. “He’s just got to make pitches.”