ATLANTA — Before Don Mattingly discussed the Phillies’ latest excruciating loss at Truist Park, he led with another one.
Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo will not pitch on Saturday night because of stiffness in his left shoulder. Luzardo threw a two-hit shutout Monday against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park, but Mattingly said he had trouble getting loose this week. The Phillies think he could pitch next week. If this issue lingers, though, it would be a blow to their postseason hopes.
Friday night’s 6-5 loss in 11 innings to the Braves was painful for entirely different reasons. It dropped the Phillies (82-66) five games behind the Braves (87-61) in the NL East with 14 left to play, essentially putting the division out of reach. It also dropped them into a tie with the Cubs for the No. 1 NL Wild Card spot. But because Chicago won the season series, it would host the Phillies in a best-of-three NL Wild Card Series at Wrigley Field.
“I thought we had a chance to win that game all around,” Bryce Harper said.
The Phillies carried a 3-2 lead into the ninth, thanks to a bases-clearing double from Derek Hill in the second and 6 1/3 solid innings from Aaron Nola. But the Phillies ran into another out on the bases in the top of the ninth, while the bullpen could not hold leads in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings.
This might be what Phillies fans fear the most in October. Poor fundamentals and a leaky bullpen – which has a 5.58 ERA and seven blown saves in the playoffs since Game 2 of the 2023 NLCS — have cost them the last few postseasons.
Harper hit a leadoff double in the ninth. If he could score, it would take heat off the bullpen. But when Alec Bohm hit a ground ball toward Harper with one out, Harper ran toward third, allowing Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubón to throw him out in a rundown.
Dubón tagged out Harper, ending any chance at that insurance run.
Baserunning mistakes like that have been happening a lot lately.
“Yeah, obviously not an ideal situation,” Harper said. “Yeah, need to be better.”
“A little bit contagious,” Mattingly said. “I don’t understand it, really. Again, we’ll just keep talking about it and working through it.”
The Phillies still had the lead, but closer Jhoan Duran was unavailable to pitch after working on Wednesday and Thursday.
So, Jonathan Bowlan got a chance to earn his third career save. He allowed a ground-ball single to Mike Yastrzemski, who scored the game-tying run after Hill bobbled a ground-ball single from Sean Murphy in center field.
“Two ground balls,” Bowlan said. “I mean, it’s tough. They’re ground balls that found holes. It’s just part of it. All you can do is take it one pitch at a time.”
The Phillies took the lead in the 10th on Justin Crawford’s pinch-hit single.
Mattingly chose Chase Shugart to protect it instead of Orion Kerkering.
“I just like the way he’s been throwing the ball,” Mattingly said.
Kerkering hasn’t pitched since Sept. 4 because of turf toe on his left foot. Mattingly said he was available, however, although Kerkering left the ballpark in a walking boot. He has been wearing the boot outside the ballpark.
“We think he can pitch, but trying to stay away as long as we can,” Mattingly said. “We feel like he can pitch. It’s just one of those things.”
Kerkering confirmed he was available to pitch.
The Braves advanced the automatic runner to third in the 10th, when Dubón’s sacrifice fly scored Brewer Hicklen to tie the game. Luis Arraez’s single in the 11th scored a run to give the Phillies another lead.
But with two outs and the automatic runner on second, Phillies left-hander Brooks Raley allowed a game-tying single to Ha-Seong Kim and a walk-off double to Drake Baldwin.
The Phillies have lost their share of games like this in Atlanta over the years. This was the latest. It was their first game at Truist Park since April 26, when Nola allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings in an ugly 6-2 loss. It would be Rob Thomson’s final game as manager. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski dismissed him two days later and replaced him with Mattingly.
The Phillies have the second-best record in baseball since then. But on Friday night, a late-inning meltdown and Luzardo’s shoulder issue were the only things on anybody’s mind.
“The guys fought all night,” Mattingly said.