Phillies hit hard by Padres as second half opens with a loss

The Phillies made it a game in the bottom of the ninth but were hit hard as the second half opened with an 8-3 loss to the visiting San Diego Padres.

Three of the five pitchers they used were taken deep by a Padres offense that is finally clicking. San Diego has won six of seven, its best stretch of the season.

The Phillies were overwhelmed by starter Yu Darvish, who struck out nine over six innings, allowing just a run on back-to-back doubles by Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm in the bottom of the fourth.

Things got very interesting in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a two-base error by Juan Soto on a muffed catch in left field that helped create a rally. The Phils had the bases loaded with one out but Trea Turner struck out and Nick Castellanos popped out against closer Josh Hader, who entered after former Phillie Luis Garcia was unable to weave his way out of the inning.

San Diego's offense pounded Phillies pitching for four homers and three doubles from six different players, building a three-run lead in the third inning and cruising to the victory until there was one out in the ninth. Gary Sanchez and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in the third inning and Manny Machado added a solo shot in the sixth. Tatis' homer traveled 432 feet and nearly reached Harry the K's past the second deck in left field. Soto crushed a two-run shot to the deepest part of the park in center field in the ninth inning and trotted verrrrrrrry slowly around the bases, the slowest trot of his career. Yes, these things are tracked.

The loss, the Phillies' third in a row, left them 48-42 heading into Saturday's split doubleheader. They lost ground in the wild-card race to the Giants and Brewers, the teams closest to them. The Phillies trail the Giants, currently the third wild-card, by 1½ games. The Brewers are in between, a game better. The Phillies have Milwaukee next, Tuesday through Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

It was another hitless game for Turner, who is down to .244/.295/.383 on the season. To put that in perspective, Freddy Galvis was a .246/.292/.387 career hitter. Turner is obviously a far superior hitter but it's been a shockingly unproductive first 90 games as a Phillie. He was on time frequently, piled up line drives and multi-hit games the first three weeks of the season coming off of a monster performance in the World Baseball Classic, but has slumped for the better part of three months. The Phillies need his bat.

Cristopher Sanchez allowed the first two homers, both on changeups. He said after the game he needs to mix pitches better. Gary Sanchez and Tatis were both sitting on that pitch.

The 26-year-old lefty has given up five earned runs over his last three starts, all via the longball. Still, three runs in five innings with five K's is a decent outing for a No. 5 starter in 2023. Take a gander around the majors. Most teams don't go four-deep, much less five-deep in the rotation. Sanchez has been steady in posting a 2.76 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in five starts since June 17. The Phillies have gone 2-3. Every team needs more starting pitching depth, but the fifth spot isn't the glaring need it was in April and May.

Friday was a busy day for the Phils. They called up center field prospect Johan Rojas and infielder Drew Ellis to replace Cristian Pache (right elbow irritation) and Josh Harrison (right wrist sprain) on the active roster. Seranthony Dominguez threw live batting practice as he gets closer to returning. Rob Thomson revealed Bryce Harper is very close to making his debut at first base, though it won’t come this weekend.

The Phils have Ranger Suarez and Taijuan Walker on the mound for the doubleheader, in that order. The Padres counter with lefties Blake Snell and Ryan Weathers, meaning Rojas should make his big-league debut. The games are scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.