Broken: Phillies 4, Padres 2

The Phillies won last night in San Diego, but the cost of that victory was extremely high.

The facts of the win are straightforward. Zach Eflin started after we wondered all week if he was even going to get on the mound and he was good. He gave the Phillies five solid innings, allowing only two runs on four hits, two walks while striking out three. Considering he was only able to go two innings last Sunday and the team had to put him through the wringer this week to see if he could even make the start, we’ll take it.

J.T. Realmuto homered again last night, starting to scoring in the fifth inning and was followed by an RBI groundout from Yairo Munoz and an RBI single from Kyle Schwarber.

Once the Padres got close with two of their own in the fifth, the bullpen was summoned by Rob Thomson to get four innings of shutdown ball and was successful. Andrew Bellatti, Corey Knebel, Brad Hand and Seranthony Dominguez did not allow a baserunner for their work and the team had their win.

However...

Taking a fastball to his left thumb, Harper has a fractured thumb and is out indefinitely. The toll of this injury is immeasurable. There is no replacement for an MVP, no matter who might come to mind as a callup, signing or trade. It puts a major damper on the recent good play by the team and threatens the season. It’s not overstating it; it’s just a fact.

We’ll have more on this as it develops.