ATLANTA — It was inevitable. The Phillies weren’t going to go undefeated in the postseason. The Phillies also weren’t going to go the entire postseason without a devastating mistake on defense that costs them a game.
The Phillies delayed the inevitable until the sixth inning. Zack Wheeler got the first two outs against Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario with the lineup turning over a second time. Two outs and the bases empty was a good spot for Wheeler to face Ronald Acuña Jr. Two pitches in, Acuña was drilled with a 96 mph sinker to the right elbow. He was in some pain and Wheeler heard it from the hometown crowd that watched their superstar go down with a devastating injury last summer and miss an entire World Series run.
Acuña stayed in the game. A walk to Dansby Swanson set up first and second with two outs for Matt Olson. With two strikes, Olson pulled a 101.3 mph ground ball just to the right of Rhys Hoskins. It was hit hard, but that doesn’t mean Hoskins shouldn’t have had it. The play was not ruled an error, but the consensus is that it is an inexcusable mistake by Hoskins.
“It’s a play that I’ve made before. I’ll make again. Just didn’t make it tonight,” Hoskins said.
He went down and tried to pick it off the backhand, but the ball hit his glove and fell into right field. A run scored and a couple more came home on two more singles. The Phillies fell behind by three runs late in the game thanks to a weakness that has been their downfall way too many times this year.
The difference is that the mistake will shine an ugly spotlight on Hoskins for the next couple days. It’s his job to take it and move forward. How does he plan on doing it?
“Focus on Friday,” Hoskins said. “Get to go home, play in Philly, I mean how can you not be excited about that? Obviously we’ve heard a lot about the drought, but just getting to go back home. I think I heard [Schwarber] say sleep in our own beds, just walk into our own clubhouse and most importantly just being able to play at home.”
Zack Wheeler said after the game that Hoskins came up to him and took responsibility for the inning unraveling. Wheeler believes it’s on him for not executing the pitch.
“If I execute that pitch, I think [Olson is] swinging over it and that’s on me,” Wheeler said.
It was an inning that halted what could have been a second-consecutive signature Wheeler start. Through the first three innings, Wheeler got nine outs on 27 pitches. The Braves didn’t get a baserunner on until the fourth when Acuña Jr. singled to lead off the frame.
Poor execution was not exclusive to the Hoskins play — or Wheeler’s rough sixth inning. Bryce Harper, who is 6-for-14 to begin the postseason, led off the second inning with a double against Kyle Wright. Nick Castellanos quickly moved him over to third. The Phillies had two chances to knock in Harper, but Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh were retired to end the threat.
Harper was the only baserunner to get to scoring position for the Phillies. Only three runners reached base after the second.
Much of the offensive deficiencies for the Phillies are rooted in the struggles of the top two hitters in the order. Kyle Schwarber and Hoskins are a combined 1-for-34 with a double in the postseason. Schwarber is still hitless through four postseason games.
“They’re just missing right now,” Rob Thomson said. “But I think Rhys is close because he’s lofting a lot of balls. And that’s a good sign for him. Maybe Schwarber is trying to do too much right now. But they’ll be fine. I trust them.”
“For me, I have to be able to make the adjustment,” Schwarber said. “I have to be able to put that ball in play and put it on the barrel. Trust me, I want to be going out there and getting on base and getting hits when guys are on base.”
There was some relief to go around. The Phillies are finally going home on Thursday after 18 days on the road. There’s still excitement around the first postseason game in club history since 2011. A split on the road is an outcome you would take as heavy underdogs going into the series. They’ll need to take two out of three with home field advantage to advance to the NLCS.
“Hopefully we don’t have to come back here,” Wheeler said.
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