Vince Velasquez was rolling along, Travis Jankowski was scorching hot, and through four innings on Wednesday afternoon, it looked like the Phillies were going to ride the duo’s efforts to a clean and easy matinee victory over the Nationals.

But the 2021 Phillies don’t do well with clean and easy, and they sure as hell don’t do well with momentum, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise when:

  • they blew an early five-run lead during a disastrous top of the fifth
  • they blew a separate four-run lead an inning later, spoiling the brief momentum of an Andrew McCutchen bailout grand slam
  • Phillies reliever David Hale was unable to clean up the bases-loaded mess made by fellow reliever Sam Coonrod in an even more disastrous sixth
  • they overcame all of the above to take the lead in the eighth
  • Hector Neris pissed away that lead, their third of the day, burying his team for good

Neris has now blown 10 of 15 save opportunities this season, including three of his last five chances.

The big takeaway?

With the Sixers’ season prematurely dead and Eagles training camp still a month away, the Phillies seized the attention of the city’s eyes this week, but they did so for all of the wrong reasons.


A sticky substance debacle overshadowed Tuesday night’s failed comeback attempt before a laughably ridiculous loss today that somehow stands out in a season filled with such defeats.

With an obvious chance to create some positive buzz this week, the Phillies failed, and they failed spectacularly. Nobody is getting behind this product right now. Why on earth would they?

Let’s jump into some observations from this latest mess, a 13-12 loss that drops them to 34-37 ahead of an important (is it really?) four-game series with the Mets.

What the Hale, Man?

Holding a 9-5 lead in the sixth, Phillies manager Joe Girardi elected to go to with Hale to extinguish a bases-loaded jam.

Hale, who profiles more as a multi-inning mop-up guy and/or Triple-A depth piece, promptly allowed a two-run single to Trea Turner before walking Juan Soto to reload the bases.

This time, the result was worse:

Playing off the tweet above, opposing hitters are now 6-for-7 against Hale with the bases loaded this season. That includes three doubles, two grand slams, a single, and 17 runs scored.

If you’re looking for some expert beat writer analysis on the subject — that’s not great!

Just a Footnote

Jankowski’s big day will go down as a mere footnote of the loss.

The 30-year-old outfielder collected three hits, including his first homer since Sept. 26, 2018. In the bottom of the second, he lifted a three-run shot to right field on an 0-2 pitch that gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead.

Jankowski’s first MLB homer in 1,001 days set the tone early on, providing Velasquez room to navigate a surging Washington lineup. He was efficient through three innings, needing just 38 pitches to retire the Nationals in order his first time through the order.

Velasquez’s success in the early innings today continued a season-long trend in which opposing hitters have struggled with him upon first look.

Hitters have just 17 hits in 101 at-bats (.168 BA) the first time facing Velasquez in a game this season.

And Then What Happened?

Velasquez, however, would eventually run into trouble in the fifth. After beginning the inning by issuing consecutive walks, Starlin Castro got the Nationals on the board with a double, which preceded the latest example of the Phillies defense turning a routine play into a fucking catastrophe.

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1407771661223538691?s=20

As the baseball gods do not take well to such incompetence, you pretty much knew what was going to happen next. Two batters later, Velasquez was out of the game, and Kyle Schwarber pissed all over a hanging curveball from Archie Bradley to tie the game.

Bradley wasn’t getting that pitch past anyone, let alone Schwarber, who is in the midst of a torrid run.

At about the time Schwarber’s game-tying rocket clanged off the blue seats above the left field fence, it became apparent the early contributions from Jankowski and Velasquez may go to waste.

Just a Footnote (Part Two)

McCutchen’s pinch-hit grand slam was another moment likely to be lost in the rubble of the loss.

McCutchen’s 13th homer of the season temporarily erased the significance of Velasquez’s fifth-inning command issues, Brad Miller’s defensive gaffe, and the aimless spinner out of Bradley’s hand.

It also provided enough wiggle room that the Nationals’ ensuing six-run outburst in the sixth didn’t sink the Phillies — at least not immediately.

McCutchen is suddenly pushing close to a 30-homer pace. If the Phillies fall out of this thing in the next five to six weeks, he could prove an interesting option for a team needing some outfield pop from the right side.

Alec Bohm Continues Big June

Alec Bohm entered the day hitting .333 during the month of June and raised his average to .371 following his first career four-hit game. Notably, he collected an extra-base hit in back to back games for the first time since May 14-15.

https://twitter.com/brodesmedia/status/1407806181574381569?s=21

Fun With Foreign Substances

A day after emotions ran high in Tuesday night’s sticky substance shit show between these two teams, Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman decided to have some fun with Bryce Harper.

That’s a clown inspection, bro.

Harper would have a second laugh two innings later when he stayed on a 95 mph sinker from Nationals starter Erick Fedde for an opposite-field homer to make it 4-0.

Amazingly, all 10 of Harper’s home runs this season have been solo shots. That partially explains why of 35 National League players with double-digit homers only Chicago’s Patrick Wisdom (14) has less runs batted in than Harper (20).