Joe Girardi: Phillies’ Collapse vs. Mets ‘Probably’ Toughest Loss of My Tenure | Bleacher Report

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Things were looking up for the Philadelphia Phillies. The team took a 7-1 lead into the top of the ninth against their NL East rivals, the New York Mets, with the chance to end a three-game losing streak. 

But relief pitchers James Norwood and Corey Knebel proceeded to give up seven runs in the inning, the Phillies couldn’t rally in the bottom of the inning and lost 8-7 on Thursday night. 

“One of them, yeah,” manager Joe Girardi told reporters when asked if it was the toughest loss of his managerial career. “I’ve had some playoff losses that were pretty tough. But it’s probably the toughest one since I’ve been here.”

It spoiled an excellent outing from Phillies starter Aaron Nola (seven innings, three hits and one run allowed, seven strikeouts) and an outburst from Philadelphia’s talented but struggling lineup, which included homers from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos. 

For an 11-15 Phillies team that has underachieved after the offseason additions of Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber, Thursday’s game against the Mets would have been a huge win. Instead, it was a devastating loss. 

“It sucks, man,” Castellanos told reporters. “There’s no way around it. Baseball sometimes, sucks. Tonight sucked.”

The question for Philadelphia will be how it bounces back. 

“You trust the guys in the room to get it done. You trust them,” Girardi told reporters. “There’s a lot of fight in that room. They’ll come out fighting.”

Coming into the season, the bats and starting pitching were considered strengths for the Phillies, while the bullpen and defense were major question marks. Twenty-six games later, little has changed.