Philadelphia Phillies on Brink of Elimination After Ugly Game 3 Loss

The Philadelphia Phillies are now facing elimination after losing Game 3 on the road in what turned into an ugly performance.

Oct 8, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) is relieved in the sixth inning against the New York Mets during game three of the NLDS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Citi Field / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are one loss away from their season being over.

This would be the second straight year their campaign ends before they feel like it should have if they don't advance, only this time it would come in the NLDS round of the playoffs against their heated rival the New York Mets instead of the in the Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Everything was ugly in this 7-2 loss.

The home runs that Aaron Nola has started to give up at an increased rate the past two seasons bit him twice. The lineup reverted back to their undisciplined selves after believing their Game 2 victory had turned things around. And the bullpen, once again, came up small in the playoffs.

It's the same story just one year later.

There really weren't any highlights for the Phillies in this one.

They went down 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Pete Alonso hit an opposite field home run, and despite having some base runners the very next frame to even things up, they couldn't score.

Nola gave up another solo shot in the top of the fourth inning to increase their deficit.

At that point in time, even a two-run lead felt like something Philadelphia wouldn't be able to overcome, and when they finally looked like they had something going in the top of the sixth with two men on base and nobody out, Bryce Harper bailed out Sean Manaea by swinging and missing at three straight pitches.

The next batter, Nick Castellanos lined into a double play that ended the inning without them capitalizing on the situation.

Again, a result that has become too common for this Phillies team.

Things got out of hand in the bottom of the sixth when Nola loaded up the bases to end his night and Orion Kerkering couldn't get all three outs before allowing Starling Marte to hit a two-run single that extended the lead to 4-0.

After that, things were really over.

The Mets tacked on two more in the seventh, and it took until the top of the eighth inning for Philadelphia to score their first runs when both Harper and Castellanos hit RBI singles.

That was too little, too late.

The Phillies now go into Wednesday down 2-1 in a series they were favored to win, needing to put together two straight victories or else they will be eliminated from the postseason early for the second straight year.