I knew I blew the whole fandango: Diamondbacks 11, Phillies 9

Ranger Suarez’s rust and too many mistakes resulted in an extra inning loss

At first, it looked like the story of the game was going to be Ranger Suarez’s shaky return from the Injured List. Then, it looked like the story of the game would be the Phillies’ valiant comeback. But ultimately, the story of the game was the bullpen and defense unraveling in the tenth inning, and the Phillies being unable to come back once again. The end result was a 11-9 defeat to the Arizona Diamondbacks in ten innings.

Suarez, making his first start of the season, got through the first two innings clean, but a walk and three straight hits led to three Diamondback runs in the third.

Suarez got the first two batters in the fourth but then seemed to hit a wall. Five straight Diamondbacks reached base, extending their lead to 7-1.

We’ve seen games like this where the lineup doesn’t respond, but the bats were lively on Sunday. Johan Rojas got one run back with an RBI single in the fourth, and a three-run home run by Weston Wilson in the sixth brought them within two.

J.T. Realmuto cut the deficit to a single run with an RBI single the following inning, but a chance to add on was eliminated by an utterly stupid play. Alec Bohm swung and missed at a strike three that was so far off the plate it went straight to the backstop. Bohm easily beat the throw to first, while Realmuto attempted to take third base. He was originally ruled safe, but the throw unintentionally caused him to be tagged in the head, and he was called out on the replay. Rob Thomson argued that the third baseman was blocking the bag, but apparently, that can’t be argued if the play was challenged.

The situation looked dire when Jose Alvarado gave up an insurance run in the ninth, but the Phillies continued to battle. Kyle Schwarber launched a home run to get one run back, and then three straight singles by Nick Castellanos, Realmuto, and Bohm tied it up.

With no appealing bullpen options left, Alvarado remained in the game despite not looking good in his first inning. He looked even worse in his second inning. Josh Naylor started the inning with a single, and the ghost runner scored thanks to an awful throw from left by Schwarber.

A walk (including a wild pitch) and sacrifice fly extended the lead to two and ended Alvarado’s day. Carlos Hernandez came in and immediately made things worse. He gave up a single, hit a batter, and then with the bases loaded, walked in another.

The Phillies’ offense still didn’t give up. Facing lefty reliever Josh Beeks, Wilson began the bottom of the tenth with a single, and Max Kepler hit a sacrifice fly to bring the ghost runner home. Trea Turner singled to put the tying run on base for Bryce Harper and Schwarber. But Beeks was able to get both of them to end the game.

It was a frustrating afternoon. It might have been easier if the story simply was that Suarez didn’t have it. But the Phillies were able to overcome Suarez’s rough outing. Instead, they made just enough mistakes the rest of the day to put a winnable game into the loss column.