Sigh: Marlins 6, Phillies 4

It’s not fair to ask someone which kind of Phillies loss is more frustrating or more brutal. The one you experienced most recently is usually the one that is going to be at the top of the list.

With that in mind I’d like to nominate “letting a winnable game slip through their fingers” as the most frustrating and brutal kind of win, because that’s what we saw today.

This game, this 6-4 loss to the Marlins, had phases.

PHASE I: “They’re only one run down, and there’s plenty of game left to play.”

The Phillies got things started off right. Cesar Hernandez hit a lead-off home run, giving the Phillies an early lead. Nick Pivetta would pitch a total of three scoreless innings before giving two runs and the lead back to the Marlins.

But they were just down one run, and there were five whole innings left to play. It wasn’t over.

PHASE II: “It’s not that bad — oh wait it is.”

Pivetta made it through five innings, and allowed one more run to bring the score to 3-1. Things were fine. Everything was under control. And then Luis Garcia happened.

Luis Garcia doesn’t just pitch anymore. He “happens” to games. And then the games are never the same. This is the sequence of events that led to the Marlins scoring three runs off of Luis Garcia.

• Single
• Single
• Sac fly, run scores
• Triple, run scores
• Wild pitch, run scores
• Out
• Double
• Out
• Liz drinks all the alcohol

It was brutal. The Phillies were down 6-1. And it felt like there was no coming back from it.

Phase III: “False hope. That’s all this is, annnnnnnd [game ends] I’m right.”

But then there kind of was a little coming back from it. The Phillies scored a run in the seventh, narrowing the deficit to just four runs. But it could have been so much more. They had runners on first and third with one out, and then Roman Quinn reached on a fielder’s choice and a run scored. They still had two men on and one out, but they couldn’t squeeze another run out of that situation.

That would come back to haunt them. In the ninth, the Phillies scored two runs. With two outs and a runner on first, Rhys Hoskins came to bat. He took the count to 3-2, and then swung through the air for strike three. Game over.

At one point, two Marlins runners crossed each other on the basepaths. And the Phillies still lost. That feels like a sign.