The Phillies Completely Puked Against the Orioles
There’s losing and then there’s choking, but there is also puking, and that’s exactly what the Phillies did against the almighty Baltimore Orioles. While the 2020 Orioles look somewhat better than their abominable 2018 and 2019, this is still not the 1983 Orioles we’re talking about here.
In a game that turned out to be typical of the 2020 Phillies, Zack Wheeler pitched a solid 5.2 innings and allowed 3 earned runs. Then of course came the dreaded bullpen where Tommy Hunter gave up 2 runs in the 7th inning, but closer Hector Neris still entered the 9th inning with a 1 run lead. The worst bullpen in the majors promptly blew it as Neris recorded his first blown save, but that wasn’t even the most embarrassing part of the 9th inning.
This was:
The Phillies just puked all over themselves
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 12, 2020
Puking is the perfect description for this situation because it’s just that indescribable of a blunder. Jean Segura turned a salvageable 6-6 into an 8-6 deficit. That would have been enough to put a bad loss into the books, but then Didi Gregorius just had to tease us with an awesomely clutch game tying hit with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning. Segura even had a chance to win the game with two runners in scoring position…and he struck out.
But at least the game was now tied and going into extra-innings, but wait…these are the 2020 extra innings where a runner is automatically put on 2nd base, a huge blow to this bullpen. Well, once again, the bad bullpen wasn’t the worst of this next disaster:
I regret to inform you the Phillies have puked all over themselves again pic.twitter.com/CIIapMLl2c
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 12, 2020
I don’t know if the Orioles passed their bad baseball curse onto the Phillies, but that’s about as bad as it gets. Didi’s heroics were wasted and forgotten with this ridiculous inside-the-park home run.
And then…the Phillies tease us again!
In the bottom of the 10th Jay Bruce drives Segura home to cut the lead to 10-9. Then with one out Phil Gosselin sends Bruce to 2nd with single, and a passed ball sends them both to scoring position.
The stage is set. Roman Quinn is gonna get his chance at redemption. All he needs is a base hit to win the game and erase his and Segura’s blunders. Instead he grounds out and doesn’t move the runners. Rhys Hoskins grounds out as the Phils waste the tying run in scoring position with just one out. The Segura and Quinn blunders will live on in infamy. Congratulations Donovan McNabb, the 2020 Phils are the pukers of this city now.
No matter how much promise and potential this team has, it’s bullpen and mental errors clearly overshadow it. And we don’t even have Gabe Kapler to put the blame on anymore. Either the Phillies needs to get their you-know-what together or they will be another spec in the dumpster fire that is 2020.
Thank goodness the Flyers are a legitimate contender this year because otherwise Philly sports in this pandemic era has been nooooooot great.