Phillies' Offense is to Blame for Loss on Tuesday

The Philadelphia Phillies fell to two games below .500 and six games back in the division following their loss to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Lauren Amour | May 4, 2022

Tuesday night's game against the Texas Rangers was a perfect display of what this 2022 Philadelphia Phillies team has to offer.

In the 6-4 loss, starter Ranger Suárez underperformed, Alec Bohm committed a costly error at third base, and the Phillies' offense was 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Sure, you can blame Suárez, who's ERA has now risen to 4.63 and was handed his first loss of the season. He certainly has not lived up to expectations as a starter thus far—surrendering five runs (three earned) on six hits on Tuesday night—inducing concern about whether last season was just a fluke.

You can blame Bohm. With the game tied at 3 in the sixth inning, Bohm was unable to convert two ground balls into outs. The first was ruled an error, allowing Nathaniel Lowe to reach to put runners on first and second with no outs. Suárez was then lifted for Seranthony Domínguez, who promptly got the first and second outs via strikeout.

Zach Reks stepped to the plate next and broke the tie with a two-run double to right field. Without Bohm's error, Jonah Heim would've still been on first base and maybe wouldn't have been able to score. The next batter, Marcus Semien, reached on an infield single that was held on to too long by Bohm, causing another run to score.

Quite frankly, though, these are tired arguments. Do the Phillies need Suárez to be better? Yes. Do the Phillies need Bohm to make those plays? Absolutely. But most importantly, Philadelphia's offense needs to start meeting expectations. After all, that seemed to be the Phillies' strategy this season: offense first, defense—and seemingly every other aspect of the game—second.

The Phillies were held scoreless following the first inning, where they put up a three-spot to take the lead over the Rangers. That would be the only lead they had all night. However, the Phillies had a spectacular chance in the seventh inning with Roman Quinn on third and Matt Vierling on second with no outs and the top of the order coming up.

The momentum was quickly lost when Kyle Schwarber popped out, Bohm struck out swinging, and Bryce Harper went down looking. It was a horribly uninspiring performance, especially from Philadelphia's 1-3 hitters against a Rangers' pitching staff that has been struggling thus far in 2022. That simply can't happen.

The 11-13 Phillies sit at third place in the division and are six games back of the first-place New York Mets. Meanwhile, the Rangers, who were just 8-14 coming into Tuesday's contest, earned their ninth win of the season and are in last place in the AL West.

Tuesday's game was absolutely winnable, but the Phillies' offense failed to take advantage of countless opportunities, leaving a total of 17 runners on base. These are the games that this Philadelphia lineup, boasted to dominate "bad" teams, should win by a mile, and yet, they failed to do so.

The Rangers are the "easiest" opponent the Phillies will face in the month of May, as they take on the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers seven times each, as well as the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. They better start figuring things out offensively soon, before the hole they've dug themselves into is too deep to crawl out of.

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Published May 4, 2022

LAUREN AMOUR

Lauren Amour is Deputy Editor for FanNation's 'Inside the Phillies,' part of Sports Illustrated. Lauren formerly covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. Lauren is a graduate of Rider University in New Jersey.