Phillies’ NL East-chase Hindered In 2-0 Loss To 100-loss Orioles

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — John Means struck retired six and stymied Bryce Harper and a Philadelphia Phillies squad successful an eleventh-hour playoff propulsion to pb the Baltimore Orioles to a 2-0 triumph Monday night.

Losers of 2 straight, the Phillies entered 2 games down Atlanta successful the NL East. The Braves opened a four-game bid successful Arizona precocious Monday nighttime against the 101-loss Diamondbacks. The Phillies were 3½ games down St. Louis for the 2nd chaotic card. Cincinnati besides leads Philadelphia successful the wild-card chase.

The Phillies opened a seven-game homestand with 3 against the 102-loss Orioles and 4 much against a Pittsburgh Pirates squad inching toward 100 losses.

The Phillies desperately needed to heap up wins against 2 teams playing retired the drawstring if they wanted adjacent week’s three-game acceptable successful Atlanta to person immoderate postseason implications.

Here’s what they got instead: an discourtesy led by Harper, an NL MVP candidate, handcuffed by Means, who tossed four-hit shot pitching into the seventh. Means, who pitched a no-hitter May 5, adjacent doubled successful the seventh for his archetypal vocation extra-base hit.

Means (6-7) yielded to righty Cole Sulser with runners connected the corners, and helium retired Freddy Galvis connected a flyball to close to extremity the seventh.

Harper, who led MLB with a 1.052 OPS, walked successful the archetypal inning, struck retired swinging successful the 4th and the sixth innings against Means. Harper represented the tying tally but flew retired to extremity the crippled a nighttime earlier successful a 4-2 nonaccomplishment to the Mets.

The slugging outfielder has been tasked with carrying the Phillies to the playoffs for the archetypal clip since 2011 without overmuch assistance astir him. Tyler Wells got Harper connected a 401-foot flyball to halfway successful the ninth, past retired J.T. Realmuto and Andrew McCutchen for his 3rd save.

The Phillies were booed disconnected the field.

Ranger Suarez (6-5) gave up consecutive RBI singles to Pedro Severino and Ryan McKenna successful the archetypal inning earlier helium settled down successful a crippled helium needed to win. He struck retired 5 and his ERA bumped to 1.60.

The Phillies are successful the playoff race, though years of mediocre shot and the commencement of the Eagles play sapped the metropolis of enthusiasm for the September agelong run. The squad announced 21,440 fans — though acold little than that seemed connected hand.

Losing to the Orioles won’t enactment a spark successful the city. Or fans successful the seats.

Manager Joe Girardi said earlier the crippled pennant races are ever fun.

This one, though, hurt.

“When you deliberation of each the enactment you’ve enactment successful to get to this point, to person an accidental to get into the playoffs, to beryllium applicable successful your division,” it’s fun, Girardi said. “It truly starts the time aft past year’s season. You commencement planning. You commencement working. Players commencement doing things. This is what it is each about. All that worldly you did successful November and December, January and February, this is what it is each about. We’re fortunate to beryllium successful this position. So you person to instrumentality vantage of it.”

Again, the Phillies couldn’t instrumentality vantage against 1 of the worst teams successful baseball. Arizona swept the Phillies successful a three-game acceptable successful mid-August and the sub-.500 Rockies took 3 of 4 successful Philly earlier this month.

OUT OF OFFICE

Orioles CF Cedric Mullins did not start. He has 29 location runs and 30 stolen bases. He entered for defence connected double-switch successful the ninth.

UP NEXT

The Orioles and Phillies are each throwing bullpen games with openers TBD.

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