You wouldn’t be wrong if you took the layup and blamed the Phillies’ bullpen for Friday night’s demoralizing 5-3 loss to the Washington Nationals (see Instant Replay).
The National League’s worst bullpen -- 5.07 ERA -- coughed up a one-run lead in the eighth inning for its sixth blown save of the young season. That’s tied for the second-most in baseball.
But while Mike Adams and Jake Diekman certainly had their problems in the eighth inning -- they combined to allow five straight hits as the lead went kapoof -- they weren’t the only ones to have a tough night.
Manager Ryne Sandberg rightly laid a chunk of the responsibility for the loss at the feet of the Phillies’ hitters, who did nothing after having three runs virtually handed to them in the first inning.
“That was the bigger thing, scoring early and we couldn’t add on,” Sandberg said.
On paper, this was going to be a tough assignment for the Phillies. They faced Washington starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg three times last season and scored just one earned run against him in 23 innings.
Strasburg got the first two outs in the bottom of the first inning then allowed a pair of singles. He appeared to be out of the inning when Marlon Byrd lifted a foul fly ball to deep right field. Nats rightfielder Jayson Werth dropped the ball and was charged with an error, giving Byrd a second life. Byrd made the most of the second chance, driving a three-run homer into the right-field seats.
It was the type of break that can catapult some teams to a win, but not these Phillies.
Cliff Lee protected the lead well. He allowed just two runs -- one of which was unearned after an error by Chase Utley in the fifth -- over seven innings and exited the game with a 3-2 lead. It would have been nice had the Phillies been able to extend that lead, maybe score a few earned runs, but they went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position after the first inning.
Strasburg pitched six innings and allowed just six hits. Half of them came in the first inning when the Phillies scored their only runs, all of which were unearned.
While the Phillies’ bullpen struggled, the Nats’ bullpen was strong.
Lefty Jerry Blevins retired John Mayberry Jr. and Ben Revere to avoid damage after Cody Asche led off the bottom of the seventh with a double.
In the eighth, after the Phillies had gone down by two runs, they got the first two runners on base only to see Ryan Howard, Byrd and Domonic Brown go down quietly against Tyler Clippard.
Lee got the Phillies through seven innings with the lead, meaning the bullpen only had to get six outs. The Nats turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead before the Phillies’ bullpen could get one out in the eighth.
Sandberg chose the right-hander Adams over lefty Antonio Bastardo because Washington had two right-handed hitters coming up after lefty-hitting Denard Span. Span, however, started the inning with a broken-bat double on an 0-2 breaking ball from Adams. Four hits later -- two against Adams and two against Diekman -- the Nats had a two-run lead.
The Phillies have a 6.33 ERA in the eighth inning, the third-worst in baseball.
“I’ve got to do a better job holding the lead, especially with the way Cliff threw,” Adams said. “As a bullpen, we need to be better, more consistent. The bullpen is so important to a team. If we don’t do our job, we’re not going to be successful.”
Sandberg is seldom critical of his team, but he seemed to concur.
“We need consistency,” he said of the bullpen. “That’s the biggest thing. We’ve had good outings, but it’s inconsistent.”
Adams said he hopes he gets the chance to get back on the mound Saturday night and put Friday night’s eyesore behind him.
Lee, who pitched well Friday night but left with nothing to show for it, hopes Adams gets that chance.
“I think we’ll take Mike Adams with the lead in the eighth inning every time,” Lee said. “I know I will. It was just one of those nights when they got their hits. They earned it. Those things happen in this game.”