WASHINGTON — Jesús Luzardo spent his first night on the injured list seated at the end of the dugout bench, an ace unable to pitch due to shoulder stiffness.
Yet, somehow, the Phillies still have a bigger problem.
Luzardo, only the best pitcher in the National League since the middle of May, may not pitch again this season. But even that ominous news can’t possibly churn interim manager Don Mattingly’s bile like the bullpen in a close game.
It reared its head again here Tuesday night — and on the first pitch thrown by Jonathan Bowlan, who gave up a go-ahead three-run homer to pinch-hitting Daylen Lile in a series-opening 6-3 loss to the Nationals.
“I mean, it was executed,” Bowlan said of a first-pitch changeup to Lile. “He just put a good swing on it, you know? The result is what it is. If he rolled over, we’d be saying something different. That’s just part of the game.”
More so lately for Bowlan, who has allowed four homers in his last seven appearances, a troubling development for the Phillies’ primary setup man at a time when Orion Kerkering is trudging around the clubhouse in a boot because of turf toe, and Alex McFarlane is a rookie with 15 games of major-league experience. Back to all that momentarily.
Because despite losing for the fourth time in five games, the Phillies (83-68) stayed a half-game behind the Cubs (84-68), who lost at home to the Braves, for the top NL wild card. They also remained a game ahead of the Padres (82-69), who lost on the road in Colorado. San Diego occupies the final wild-card spot.
And there are only 11 games remaining.
“It’s going to be a grind, there’s no doubt about it,” said Kyle Schwarber, who opened a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning with his majors-leading 45th homer. “It’s not like it’s a guarantee. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We’ve got to go out and we’ve got to win ballgames.”
Especially ones that are tied in the seventh inning.
NL wild-card standings
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Bowlan inherited a two-on, one-out jam from Cristopher Sánchez. The big righty had a stellar first half and emerged as the setup man in July once Brad Keller was lost to season-ending elbow surgery. But he has also pitched a lot, a career-high 55⅔ innings in 58 games.
The Phillies have noticed that the quality of Bowlan’s stuff diminishes when he pitches on back-to-back days. In this case, he hadn’t pitched since last Friday.
“Obviously you’re concerned,” Mattingly said. “You don’t want to give up the long ball because then it’s either a run quick or multiples. In general, we’ve given up some homers out of the pen, say, in the last month. We’ve got to do a better job of either executing or getting the ball to the right spots, things like that.
“I thought [Bowlan] was the right guy for that spot.”
Instead, Bowlan left a changeup over the plate. He has allowed a run in each of his last five outings and six of his last seven. His ERA since Aug. 29: 7.71.
“It’s a tough situation to be in, no doubt,” Bowlan said. “I mean, you don’t want to do that. That’s not what we’re here for. There’s ups, there’s downs, and you live and you learn from it. I wouldn’t say there’s much searching. All you can do is move on to the next day, next pitch. The sun comes up, and just keep rolling.”
Sánchez wasn’t blameless. He was unable to hold 1-0 and 3-2 leads, allowing Andrés Chaparro’s game-tying homer in the fifth inning. After 193⅔ innings, second-most in the NL, the ace lefty is leaking oil, too, with a 5.06 ERA in his last five starts.
“I feel like I’ve missed a couple pitches, and they got me on those mistakes,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “Of course I’ve noticed it. It’s something that I have to work on and improve.”
Is it a mechanical tweak?
“I’d rather not talk about that right now,” Sánchez said. “I’m just missing some pitches and know that I have to get better.”
The offense wasn’t absolved either. The Phillies got only one hit after Schwarber’s fifth-inning homer. As Mattingly put it, “We didn’t do anything, honestly.” And after getting on base at a .353 clip in August, they’re back to a .279 mark so far in September.
“Guys go up and down,” Schwarber said. “There’s times guys are going to go good, times guys are going to go bad. That’s why there’s a lineup.”
Yet none of it, not even Luzardo’s inflamed left shoulder that put him on the injured list, is as gut-churning as the bullpen. Because in the postseason, if they make it, the Phillies will be tied in the seventh inning with the starter at 98 pitches and the offense struggling for hits.
And the outcome will rest with the bullpen.
“Those innings are always the stressful innings, and they’re stressful innings all over the place,” Mattingly said. “You’d like to be able to lock down that end of the game when you get a lead or you’re in a close game. You want to be able to lock that down and keep it right there and give yourself chances to score.”
Instead of giving it away on one pitch.
“We know we have the group that is capable of being the team that can hold up a trophy at the end of the year,” Schwarber said. “We know that. But we also have to go out there and we have to win games.”
