A couple of first-year Phillies struggle in shutout loss to Rangers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Phillies were shut down for the second time this season by veteran left-hander Martín Perez, who beat them again in a 7-0 Rangers win Tuesday in Texas.
Perez tossed six scoreless innings and has shut the Phillies out over 13 innings in two meetings this season. The Phillies have put 17 men on base against him without scoring a single run.
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They had two on with nobody out in the first inning but Nick Castellanos grounded into a double play. Castellanos stranded five in his first three at-bats, grounding out three times. He still just doesn't look right, constantly finding himself behind in the count 0-2 or 1-2. He's hit .254 with runners in scoring position and .249 overall this season after hitting .290 the prior four years.
The Phillies were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
They are 0-3 this season against the Rangers, who are three games under .500. The Phillies are 36-33 going into the finale of the quick two-game series Wednesday afternoon.
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Returning to Texas to face the team that traded him to the Phillies last summer for Spencer Howard, Kyle Gibson didn’t pitch poorly but gave up back-to-back solo homers in the fifth inning to Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim.
Gibson allowed three runs over 6⅓ innings. He is 4-3 with a 4.06 ERA through 14 starts.
Struggling Jeurys Familia was tagged for four runs in the eighth to put the game away. Familia has a 5.55 ERA in 27 appearances and has not materialized as a high-leverage reliever for the Phillies. They haven't gotten much return on that one-year, $6 million investment.
Bryce Harper, dealing with an infected blister on his left hand, was out of the starting lineup for the fourth straight game. The Phillies are 4-6 this season in games he doesn’t start.
The Phils finish their season series with Texas Wednesday at 4:05 p.m. when Zack Wheeler (6-3, 2.69) opposes Jon Gray (2-3, 4.27).
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