Phillies’ Bats Called Out for Missed Chances in World Series Game 5 Loss to Astros | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
[ad_1]
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
The downhill portion of the roller coaster that is the Philadelphia Phillies’ offense continued at the worst possible time for the National League champions.
Philadelphia appeared ready to ride its powerful bats to a World Series crown when it blasted five home runs off Houston Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3. Then it looked like the worst offense in the world during a combined no-hitter for Houston pitchers in Game 4.
And it didn’t look much better while missing countless opportunities during a 3-2 loss in Thursday’s Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park, which gave the Astros a 3-2 lead in the series and the chance to close things out at home in Game 6 or 7.
It seemed like the Phillies’ offense from Game 3 returned when Kyle Schwarber launched a leadoff home run off Justin Verlander in the bottom of the first inning, but that was the end of the scoring until the eighth for the home team.
Even that one-run inning was defined by a missed chance, as Trey Mancini robbed Schwarber of a potential extra-base hit with two runners on base. Just for good measure, the heartbreak theme continued when Chas McCormick made an incredible leaping catch at the wall on a deep drive by J.T. Realmuto in the ninth.
Social media reacted to all the close calls and offensive letdowns from the NL representatives:
Jesse Rogers @JesseRogersESPN
Also this: The Phillies haven’t had a hit with runners in scoring position since Game 1 of this series (0 for last 18 through the 3rd inning).<br><br>FROM ELIAS: The last team to have a hitless streak with RISP that long in the World Series was the 2008 Phillies (0-19).
Runs figured to be at a premium against Verlander, who could be on his way to a third career Cy Young this season. The only way Philadelphia was going to win was by taking advantage of its chances, and it did the exact opposite of that as the future Hall of Famer battled out of jams throughout his five innings.
Verlander struck out Rhys Hoskins with the bases loaded in the second inning, retired Bryson Stott with a fly out with two runners on in the third inning and induced a fly out from Nick Castellanos with a runner on second in the fifth inning.
That pattern continued against the bullpen when Schwarber grounded out with two runners on in the sixth and eighth innings. Both were hard-hit balls, but the slugger ended up with nothing to show for it.
It simply wasn’t enough run support for Noah Syndergaard, who had the unenviable task of going up against Verlander and was driven out of the game in the fourth after giving up an RBI single and solo homer to Jeremy Peña.
If the offense isn’t better in Game 6 on Saturday, the Phillies’ magical run will come to an end.
[ad_2]
Source link
Comments are closed.