Jerad Eickhoff Exits With Injury as Phillies Swept by Braves in Doubleheader

GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

This was one of those days that left you thumbing through the schedule wondering when it will all end.

For the record, it will end on Oct. 1.

Thirty more games.

The Phillies completed a 10-game homestand Wednesday the same way they started it. They were swept in a doubleheader by a National League East rival. Last week, it was the Miami Marlins. This time, it was the Atlanta Braves. The Braves won the opener, 9-1, and took the nightcap, 5-2, as the Phillies trudged a little farther down the road toward their first 100-loss season since 1961 and the worst record in the majors for the second time in three seasons. They are on pace for 102 losses.

Atlanta had entered the day 0-8 in Philadelphia this season. Ender Inciarte, the Braves' leadoff man, had eight hits and a walk in the two games. He is second in the NL with 172 hits.

But the sight of a player who was once their property - the Phillies selected Inciarte, now a Gold Glover and an All-Star, in the Rule 5 draft in 2012, opened the 2013 season with him, then returned him to Arizona - wasn't the most difficult thing the Phils had to swallow in six hours and six minutes of losing baseball before a small crowd of 15,706.

No, the most unpalatable moment came early in the twinbill when Jerad Eickhoff became the latest Phillies starting pitcher to walk off the mound with an injury (see Game 1 observations).

Eickhoff, as has been the case recently, showed a decline in fastball velocity and exited after giving up a pair of no-out doubles in the third inning, the fifth and sixth hits he gave up in two-plus innings of work.

The official word on Eickhoff's condition was "nerve irritation" in his right hand. He did not accompany the team to Miami for a series that begins there Thursday night. He is scheduled to have tests Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia. Given the baseball industry's inclination to be cautious with matters of the pitching arm, it is reasonable to believe that Eickhoff's season is over, though the bulldog right-hander hopes it is not.

Despite his recent decline in velocity - his fastball had averaged under 90 mph in six of his previous nine starts - Eickhoff insisted he had not had any problem with his hand or arm before Wednesday.

"I just kind of felt it in the third inning there," he said. "I felt tingling in my hand. Almost like a numbness and a weakness in it. I just couldn't exactly feel the baseball. That's never a good thing. It's something going on with a nerve, maybe. Where, exactly, I'm not sure. It's definitely a nerve issue."

Eickhoff missed time earlier this season with a muscle strain in his upper back, behind his right shoulder. He said this was unrelated.

"The strength in my shoulder is fine," he said.

Eickhoff said his issue was different than Vince Velasquez's problem. Velasquez is out with a vascular issue that has affected his right middle finger.

Eickhoff has not had the season the Phillies expected. The 27-year-old right-hander pitched 197 1/3 innings over 33 starts last season and recorded a 3.65 ERA. Back in spring training, he was projected as a candidate to have a breakout season. Instead, he is 4-8 with a 4.71 ERA in 24 starts and his season might be over.

Already the Phillies have lost three starting pitchers for the season - Velasquez, Clay Buchholz and Zach Eflin. Eickhoff could be the fourth. With rosters expanding on Tuesday, the Phillies could be looking at bringing up Jake Thompson, Drew Anderson and recent independent league signing Henderson Alvarez to add depth to a thin rotation.

The current rotation consists of Mark Leiter Jr., who pitched well in the Game 2 loss, Nick Pivetta, Ben Lively and Aaron Nola. Only Nola was in the season-opening rotation. The others started the season in the minors. Leiter was not even on the 40-man roster until a need arose in the bullpen in mid-April.

"This is what we have and we have to make the most of it," manager Pete Mackanin said. "They're feeling their way through the big leagues and they're taking their lumps. They're learning what it takes to pitch at this level. All we can do is run them out there and keep coaching them and telling them what they need to hear and go from there. It's the only way we can approach it."

Leiter pitched 6 2/3 innings in the second game and allowed three runs. He kept his team in the game, but received little run support (see Game 2 observations). The Braves' starting pitching manhandled the Phillies' bats as R.A. Dickey and Julio Teheran combined to give up just two runs over 14 2/3 innings. They combined to walk just two and strike out 17. The Phils had just 12 hits against the duo and nine were singles.

Rhys Hoskins did manage a hit in both games to improve his hitting streak to 12 games.

Other than that ...

"Well, it wasn't a good day," Mackanin said. "We only scored three runs in a doubleheader. The bats were silent. The Braves solved us."