By Sam Bush
You have to give the Phils credit.
Really, you should.
Because even though they suck and wake up this morning 12 1/2 games behind the Mets in NL East, they must lead MLB in one notable category:
Walk-off losses!
Joc Pederson’s two-run homer in the 11th inning helped power the Giants to a 7-4 victory.
After a an error by Jeurys Familia allowed Wilmer Flores to score in the 10th to give San Francisco a 4-3 lead, he Phils tied it when Alec Bohm’s two-out grounder up the middle hit the second base bag, bouncing over Thairo Estrada and allowing pinch-runner Roman Quinn to score.
But the Giants scored three times in the 11th and sent the Phillies to their fifth straight loss.
The Phillies did end up loading the bases in the 11th as Giants manager Gabe Kapler decided to intentionally walk Bryce Harper — the potential tying run — to face Quinn, who had been subbed into the cleanup spot for Nick Castellanos. Quinn struck out to end the game.
The Phillies have lost three straight games in extra innings and 12 out of their last 16 games overall as questions about manager Joe Girardi’s job status have become a headline.
Even after receiving multiple votes of confidence from team president Dave Dombrowski for his manager, Girardi’s status is uncertain because of the Phillies’ franchise-record payroll of $224 million and overall sloppy play.
The Phils dropped to 21-29 — 12 1/2 games behind the New York Mets in the National League East and seven games behind San Francisco for the third and final National League wild card.
“June has to be better,” Girardi said.
“These last two weeks have been really frustrating for our club. We’ve had a lot of tough losses. The last two — the way we’ve lost — it’s been really tough. We’ve had opportunities to win, but we just haven’t been able to do it.”
