Phillies swept by Brewers after pair of defensive miscues in seventh inning
PHILADELPHIA — Weston Wilson tracked the ball off Caleb Durbin’s bat, but took a bad route. As Wilson approached the warning track in left field, the ball went over his head. Durbin pulled into second base for a leadoff double, kicking off a three-run Brewers top of the seventh inning.
Wilson’s misplay was the first of two in the top of the seventh on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies, who dropped their series finale against the Brewers, 5-2, putting them on the wrong end of a sweep.
“Didn’t see it off the bat,” manager Rob Thomson said about Wilson’s miscue. “And then had to backtrack to it — kind of took a checkmark route to it.”
The second defensive mishap came a few batters after Wilson’s. With two outs in the frame, and the Phillies leading 2-1, Trea Turner booted a simple ground ball off the bat of William Contreras that would have resulted in an inning-ending ground out. Instead, the ball hit off the glove of the Phillies shortstop and bounced around the infield dirt, allowing Durbin to score the game-tying run from third.
Turner was charged with an error on the play; there’s not much his manager feels he can say to him about it.
“It’s a routine ground ball,” Thomson said. “And he knows that he’s gotta make the play.”
Durbin was the final batter starter Ranger Suárez faced. His final line included two runs (one earned) on seven hits. The left-hander’s performance was strong enough to help his team win the game. But poor defense and a lack of offense spoiled it.
“The first pitch strikes weren’t all that good, but the strike-to-ball ratio was pretty good,” Thomson said about his starter. “I thought he kept them off balance, and I thought he did a good job.”
Orion Kerkering took over for Suárez. The final batter he faced should’ve been Contreras, but Turner’s error prevented that. Pinch hitter Jake Bauers was next, and he lined a 1-0 sweeper into the right-field corner for a go-ahead, two-run double. Jackson Chourio scored from second on the play, Contreras from first. Chourio reached based earlier in the inning after beating out a throw to first base on what could’ve been an inning-ending double play.
“We gotta clean (our defense) up, and we will,” said Thomson. “It’s been a tough couple of days.”
The Brewers padded their lead in the ninth against Jordan Romano. Joey Ortiz walked to begin the inning, stole second base and scored on a Brice Turang single.
While poor defense cost them, the offense not adding any more runs to the board after the second inning also hurt the Phillies. They scored a run in the first inning on a J.T. Realmuto single. They added another in the second on an infield single by Kyle Schwarber, who checked his swing but put the ball in play. After that, nothing.
On the afternoon, the Phillies recorded just five hits and four walks. The four free passes came in the first two innings against Brewers starter José Quintana, who settled in after a tough first two innings to finish his day after five innings of work. Milwaukee’s bullpen shut down the home team’s lineup the rest of the way.
“It’s a disappointing loss,” Thomson said.
The Phillies will be off on Monday before starting a three-game set in Toronto against the Blue Jays on Tuesday.
