By Sam Bush
Excuse me.
But the new-look Phillies are starting to look a lot like their old-look 2021 bunch.
Which became the 10th straight Phils team to miss the playoffs.
Not enough timely hitting.
Fielding mistakes.
Shaky starting pitching.
And last night’s loss to the bedraggled Texas Rangers is a prime example.
Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim homered, Zach Reks snapped a tie game with a two-RBI double and John King got two big strikeouts, leading the the Rangers past the Phillies 6-4.
Garver and Heim went deep off Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (2-1) and the game was tied at 3 into the sixth inning. Heim singled and Nathaniel Lowereached on third basemen Alec Bohm’s error. Reks broke the tie with a pinch-hit, two-RBI double off reliever Seranthony Dominguez, and Marcus Semien’s RBI single made it 6-3.
Bohm bobbled the ball before the throw and was slow to get the ball out of his glove on Semien’s infield hit. Bohm had entered 40 for 40 in total chances in the field since a three-error game April 11.
Bohm batted with two runners on base in the seventh and struck out against King. The lefty reliever then struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the threat and help the Rangers win their third straight game.
J.T. Realmuto hit a solo homer in the eighth that made it 6-4 as the Phillies, no-hit on Friday by five Mets pitchers, opened a six-game homestand that includes four more with New York.
“We just didn’t get any hits with runners in scoring position,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We had some opportunities. We weren’t able to take advantage of them.”
The Phillies scored three off starter Jon Gray in the first. Rhys Hoskins hit a low liner that bounced past diving left fielder Nick Solak for a two-RBI double. Hoskins scored on Didi Gregorius’ RBI single for a 3-0 lead.
Gray pitched three innings, allowed three runs and struck out three in his first start since April 19. He was placed on the 10-day injured list the next day with a left knee sprain. He was just 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in two starts this season. Gray signed a $56 million, four-year deal with the Rangers in the offseason.
“It definitely feels weird pitching every 12, 15 days,” Gray said. “Things are rolling again. It’s exactly where I want it to be. Just to kind of have something I can build off of from here on out.”
Suarez allowed five runs, three earned, in five-plus innings. Garver hit a two-run shot to left in the first and Heim tied it at 3 on a solo shot in the fourth.
