Even when you watch it on television, you realize that the stadium has no power. The fans roared boos from time to time when the offense did nothing but there was just no energy all night. The 2026 Philadelphia Phillies don’t deserve this. They entered this game with their magic number of two and once again were unable to control their own destiny. The Phillies have scored two runs in their last three games. An offense that was already ranked as one of the worst in baseball is going through a horrible cold spell at the wrong time. They just lost their cleanup hitter and replaced him with Edmundo Sosa, batting ninth, who went hitless due to a throwing error. Cristopher Sánchez’s first two innings were not swimming in excellence; He allowed three straight two-out singles in the first to give the Tampa Bay Rays an early lead and a Nick Fortes home run in the second. That probably shouldn’t end the game, though. Sánchez would do everything possible to correct those first two entries. He probably got a little lucky when Junior Caminero’s 107 mph fly ball died on the track on a windy night, but he was nearly flawless beyond that. After a Jonathan Aranda walk in the fifth, Sánchez retired the next seven batters he faced via strikeouts, finishing with Jorge Matteo in the seventh inning with two unhittable swings. If the Phillies somehow end this collapse and don’t have a chance to play in a playoff game, there won’t be many players blameless. If there is someone who does not deserve criticism, it is Sánchez. While the Rays have nothing to play for, striking out ten batters in seven innings against one of the best teams in the game should lead to a victory, but their offense offered no support. Freddy Peralta took the ball for the Rays and it’s not like he should be unbeatable. He has performed much better for the Rays compared to his tenure with the New York Mets, but is still a 117 ERA+ in nine starts. That’s good, but nothing special. The Phillies made him look a little special. He gave up a single to Bryson Stott leading off the second, but nothing materialized. Brandon Marsh can’t escape the depths of sadness he’s in and hit a lazy fly to Jonny DeLuca in center field, followed by a Justin Crawford double play. Even though it was a two-run game, the Phillies had three chances tonight where one of their best runners reached first base to lead off the inning. Stott did it in that second inning, Justin Crawford hit a Baltimore chopper in the sixth and Trea Turner took a Freddy Peralta fastball to right field in the sixth. The Phillies never tried to get a running back on the move, despite an offense that clearly needs some juice. It’s a bit of a hindsight, but it’s worth thinking about anyway. The worst of these entries has to be the sixth. Trea Turner reached based on that aforementioned single and Bryce Harper followed with a single. With two and no out, Alec Bohm hit a full count, but threw the seventh pitch straight to Jonathan Aranda at first base, who only had out. That still left runners on second and third with one out. Left-hander Cam Booser came out of the Rays bullpen to face Bryson Stott, who fouled off a pair of well-placed fastballs before hitting a soft line drive right to Ben Williamson at second base. Don Mattingly called on Bryan De La Cruz to bat for the struggling Brandon Marsh, and he hit a line drive a little hard but straight to Jorge Matteo at shortstop to end the inning. The Phillies would not have another base reach the rest of the night. Jhoan Durán pitched the eighth inning against the Rays’ top order, but did not return for the ninth when the Phillies’ top order fell in order. Tim Mayza worked a meaningless ninth and the Phillies didn’t make Rays closer Bryan Baker break a sweat. The Phillies don’t need a Diamondbacks loss tonight, but they sure could use it. A victory for them only puts more pressure on a Phillies team that can’t accomplish anything. Remember, the Diamondbacks have the tiebreaker, so if both teams are locked in with the same record, the Diamondbacks are in. Things are getting bad. BAD… BAD.
