Before Friday’s game Trea Turner said there was ‘a lot of good and a lot of bad’ from the first half of the Phillies season prior to the All-Star break.
The same can be said of their first game after the break.
The Phillies squandered a 4-1 lead and lost 6-5 to the Angels. Their record dropped to 55-42 and they’ve now lost five of their last seven games. They maintained their half-game lead in the division thanks to the Mets’ loss to the Reds.
Friday’s setback represented a squandered opportunity, an uneven performance by the home team on a beautiful night for baseball in South Philadelphia.
First, the bad.
Tanner Banks surrendered a two-run home run by Taylor Ward in the seventh inning that broke a 4-4 tie and put the Angels ahead to stay. It was Ward’s 22nd home run of the season, a towering shot to left center field.
The bullpen was pressed into action early after Jesus Luzardo failed to make it out of the fifth inning. Luzardo allowed seven hits and four earned runs on 95 pitches. He served up a solo home run to Jorge Soler and a two-run homer to Jo Adell. Luzardo’s season ERA climbed to 4.29.
“Obviously, this loss is on me,” Luzardo said. “Just not being able to give length and kind of hurting the bullpen a little bit and taxing our team and our offense. Just got to do a better job than that. Our offense performed extremely well tonight, they played well enough for us to get a win… It’s extremely frustrating. Especially when the offense scores four runs for you early. You ask any starter in the league if the offense gives you four runs it should be a win no matter what.”
Luzardo’s June and July have been a struggle following a scorching first two months of the season during which he posted a 2.15 ERA in his first 11 starts.
“I thought early he was pretty good,” manager Rob Thomson said of Luzardo’s outing. “He was throwing strikes, he was attacking hitters. But as the game went on I thought he got behind in the count a little bit. They hit some good pitches too.”
The Angels’ three home runs upped their season total to 142, second most in the American League. “That’s what this team does,” Thomson said. “They hit homers. That’s how they generate runs. You got to keep the ball in the ballpark.”
Mike Trout, who entered Friday’s game with two hits in 20 career at-bats at Citizens Bank Park, got the best of Luzardo. Trout doubled and scored a run in the fourth inning before delivering a game-tying RBI single in the fifth.
Despite the result, this series opener against the Angels came with its share of bright spots.
Namely, Bryce Harper has officially heated up. Harper hit a three-run home run in the third inning and a solo shot in the eighth, accounting for his first multi-home run game of the season. Harper added a double in the fifth inning and has nine extra-base hits in his last five games. He’s hitting .500 during that span (10 hits in 20 at-bats).
“I felt good,” Harper said. “Obviously coming back from the break it’s a little tough, you don’t take swings during the break. Trying to get back in the swing of things and I ended up feeling really good. I’m trying to be the best player I can and keep going out there and being Number 3, doing my job and being one of the best in the game.”
All-Star Game MVP Kyle Schwarber picked up where he left off at the midsummer classic, belting a solo home run on his first swing of the game. Schwarber’s line drive into the right field seats in the first inning increased his season total to 31, tied for the fourth most in baseball.
“It was pretty amazing,” Thomson said of Schwarber’s blast. “He does amazing things. After that All-Star Game coming up and first swing he hits the ball out of the ballpark… everyone was kind of like ‘That’s Schwarb’.”
J.T. Realmuto stayed hot at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with a double. Realmuto has multiple hits in seven of his last 11 games.
But the contributions from key bats weren’t enough. The Phillies now turn to Taijuan Walker on Saturday night in hopes of evening up this three-game series. The Angels will counter with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, so expect Thomson to fill out a righthanded heavy lineup featuring Edmundo Sosa at second base and Otto Kemp in left field.
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