The Philadelphia Phillies needed to find a spark Saturday night. They had lost three straight games coming into the matchup against the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks were surging in the standings thanks to a six-game win streak.
Aaron Nola felt like an answer for that spark. The longest-tenured Phillie started on just two days' rest. He skipped his typical bullpen to pitch in game 161. Before the game, Manager Don Mattingly said, "If anybody was built for this, it’s probably Nola."
Nola allowed a single to the first batter of the game. After recording two outs, he surrendered three straight extra-base hits, including a 111.9 MPH homer from Junior Caminero. An early 3-0 deficit was just the beginning of one of the most embarrassing losses in recent memory.
Things calmed down until the fifth inning. That's when the game reached no-hope territory. José Alvarado looked awful and could barely find the zone. He walked three (one was intentional) and allowed a hit. His day ended after walking Richie Palacios with the bases loaded.
José Urquidy got the call for mop-up duty but entered to the janitorial equivalent of an entire classroom with food poisoning. With the bases loaded and one out, he got a key strikeout. He then gave up a two-run single. The Rays had a 7-0 lead.
The Rays poured on in the sixth inning. Urquidy recorded two outs, then allowed three straight hits. 10-0 Rays.
The offense looked just as ineffective as the pitching. JT Realmuto reached an 0-for-34 hitless streak and was replaced by Garrett Stubbs in the seventh inning. The streak is now the eighth-longest in Phillies history. The Phillies broke their 21-inning scoreless streak in the bottom of the inning thanks to a terrible fielding error, making it only a nine-run lead.
Holding back any ounce of mercy, the Rays added two more runs in the ninth against Max Lazar. The final score of 12-1 was the second-highest margin of loss this season, tied with a 13-2 loss on March 30th and a 12-1 loss on May 7th.
For a game the Phillies absolutely needed to win, the team looked more lifeless than a six-foot-tall plastic skeleton.
Astonishingly, if the San Diego Padres held on to beat the Diamondbacks (10-4 score at the time of writing), the Phillies would still control their own destiny on Sunday. If the Diamondbacks come back and win, then the Phillies would need a Diamondbacks' loss on Sunday and to win themselves.
Somehow the Phillies drew 43,076 fans to this rain-filled game. Attendance dwindled along with the Phillies' playoff odds.
