With apologies to Franklin P. Adams, who penned a famous 1910 ode about the Cubs double play combination postulating that the saddest words were Tinkers to Evers to Chance, they are not.
The saddest words in baseball were uttered by Phillies manager Rob Thomson late Tuesday night in the postgame conference room at Citizens Bank Park.
“We had opportunities,” he said.
Yes, the Phillies had opportunities against the Yankees. Lots of opportunities. Lots of unsigned checks and uncashed lottery tickets.
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And so, after falling to the Yankees, 7-6 in 12 innings, they have now lost 10 of their last 14. They no longer have sole possession of the best record in baseball, having fallen into a tie with the Guardians. Their lead over the second-place Braves in the NL East is down to 7.5.
“We’ve just got to fight through it and keep going,” Thomson said, a well-worn variation on a theme recently. Then again, what can he say? Actions will ultimately have to speak louder than words.
In a clubhouse that was vacant as a hotel lobby at three in the morning and silent as a tomb, it was shortstop Trea Turner who stepped forward to provide the perspective.
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“It was a tough one,” he said. “It’s a hard game. It’s baseball. We’ll get out of it. A lot of games left. We’ve been playing some good teams of late, for sure. We’ve been in the games for sure, but just haven’t had enough. We’ll get over the hump.
“We know it’s a long season. We knew that this was probably going to happen at some point whether it’s early, middle or late. You go through these rough patches all the time. I’ve been through plenty in my career as a team and the good ones pull themselves out of it and learn from it. And I know we have the right group for that.”
The Phillies had an opportunity after starter Aaron Nola loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first and escaped allowing just one run.
They had an opportunity when scheduled Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, the 2023 AL Cy Young Award winner, was scratched with fatigue and replaced by Will Warren, who was making his big league debut. They took advantage by scoring four times in the first two innings but then, as has happened too often this season, the lineup went cold.
They had an opportunity to give new reliever Carlos Estevez his first save opportunity since being acquired from the Angels last weekend. But Matt Strahm, who has been so consistently dependable all season, walked two and then gave up a homer to Jazz Chisolm Jr. to put New York ahead.
They had an opportunity when they pieced together a tying rally in the bottom of the ninth that, adding all the exit velocities together, might not merit a ticket on the I-95 South. It also brought Bryce Harper to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs with a chance to win right then and there.
Surely, every Phillies fan in the sellout crowd of 44,502 at that moment thought about what Harper had said about it being time for the team’s superstars to show up. And he almost did, ripping a shot that caromed off first baseman D.J. LeMahieu. Unfortunately for Harper and the Phillies, the ball went right to second baseman Gleyber Torres, who threw to closer Clay Holmes covering to retire Harper and send the game in extra innings.
They had an opportunity in the bottom of the 10th, loading the bases with two outs, before Bryson Stott flied out.
They had an opportunity in the 12th, after the Yankees regained the lead in the top of the inning, to get the tying run to third with one out. But Alec Bohm, the ghost runner at second, failed to tag up and advance when Brandon Marsh flied out.
Lots and lots of opportunities. All of which, in the end, amounted to nothing more than guaranteeing their fifth straight series loss.
ON THE BUMP: LHP Nestor Cortes (4-9, 4.13) will start for the Yankees against LHP Cristopher Sanchez (7-6, 3.05) Wednesday at 12:35 p.m.
After an open date, the Phillies will begin a three-city trip against contending teams beginning with a weekend series against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. RHP Tyler Phillips (3-0, 1.80), LHP Kolby Allard (0-0, 6.75) and RHP Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.94) are lined up to pitch. The Phillies will then play the Dodgers and Diamondbacks before returning to Citizens Bank Park on August 13.
By then, the rotation could look a lot different. It hasn’t been ruled out that LHP Ranger Suarez, who is on the injured list with lower back soreness, could be activated in Arizona. And RHP Taijuan Walker (index finger inflammation) will make his first rehab start Wednesday at Double-A Reading. Rob Thomson said that, if all goes well, he might need only minor league tune-ups before being slotted back into the rotation.
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