ATLANTA — It’s impossible to know how the Phillies’ series opener would have played out if not for a crucial defensive gaffe, but it cost Zack Wheeler three runs and may have cost them a game in a 7-5 loss to the Braves.
Rob Thomson started Johan Rojas in center field and Edmundo Sosa in left Tuesday against left-hander Chris Sale. It was Sosa’s first career start in the outfield and in his first defensive chance in the opening frame, he leaped over the wall to rob Marcell Ozuna of a home run.
But the Phillies’ inexperienced outfield arrangement more than offset the robbery an inning later when Rojas and Sosa didn’t communicate properly and let a routine flyball drop gently in front of Rojas for an Austin Riley “double.” Wheeler had retired the batter before and after Riley, but the mental error extended the inning for Sean Murphy to eventually hit a three-run homer.
If it was any combination of Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Rojas out there, the play likely would have been made. Sale is an extremely difficult matchup for most lefties and Sosa started the season 11-for-20, which is why Thomson gave him the nod.
The mistake came down to a misunderstanding. Sosa pursued Riley’s flyball aggressively but then yelled “you, you, you,” to Rojas, letting him know the ball was his. Rojas seemed to think Sosa was calling him off. It was the center fielder’s ball either way and Rojas was accountable postgame.
“I have to catch that ball,” he said. “That’s my responsibility over there. I have to catch it. There’s no excuse.”
Both Rojas and Sosa were disappointed that the play negatively affected Wheeler’s line and extended the third inning. The game wasn’t decided that early, but the extra pitches and stress added up for Wheeler, who was pulled by Thomson after putting four straight men on base in the bottom of the sixth.
“We missed that play and Wheels was having a great game,” Sosa said. “This is the big leagues, we have to make that play all the time, it doesn’t matter if it’s the first play of the game, last play of the game, the inning or the score, we’ve got to execute all those plays.
“We went to the dugout and had a conversation. (Rojas) just told me to try not to call those balls beforehand with that much anticipation because sometimes with all the noise from the crowd, you cannot hear what your teammates are saying. We discussed maybe not calling the ball so early until you really know that you have it.
“I think I went too quick for the ball too. At one point I was calling for the ball to be his but all the confusion with the noise, we couldn’t communicate clearly.”
The Phillies still came right back after Murphy’s three-run shot, just like they did over the weekend to the Dodgers. They scored three in the third thanks to a two-run triple by Kyle Schwarber, who also homered in the fifth.
But Wheeler was unable to navigate through the bottom of the sixth, in large part because of tough at-bats from bottom-of-the-order hitters Jarred Kelenic and Orlando Arcia.
“I was mad at myself for not bearing down because you take pride in that type of stuff,” Wheeler said. “Not being able to bear down and get out of that (third) inning unscathed, that made me mad also.
“Things like that happen, you’ve got to keep the focus. I’ve been doing it for a while now and stuff like that’s happened over my career. So you kind of take pride as a pitcher in, all right, I’m going to get us out of this. And it just didn’t happen tonight.”
The Braves took the lead and won it in the seventh when Orion Kerkering couldn’t find his command. Kerkering’s first four appearances had been scoreless, and regardless of this result he’s probably already leapfrogged the struggling Jordan Romano in the Phillies’ bullpen hierarchy.
Most assumed Tuesday’s series opener would be a pitchers’ duel between Chris Sale and Wheeler, the National League Cy Young winner and runner-up from a season ago. Sale didn’t have much, though, failing to make it out of the fifth inning. He was victimized by Schwarber and Nick Castellanos in particular. Combined, they went 6-for-6 off him with a homer, triple and two doubles.
Facing a lefty all four times, Schwarber reached base in every plate appearance with a single, triple, 462-foot homer and walk. The adjustment he made ahead of 2024 to try to use more of the field against lefties was real and the impact has been astonishing. Schwarber was a .204 lifetime hitter against lefties entering 2024, his age-31 season. Since last Opening Day, he’s ripped southpaws to the tune of .316/.423/.547.
He hasn’t just made himself passable against same-handed pitching, he’s turned into one of the biggest threats in baseball. Already this season, Schwarber is 8-for-17 vs. lefties with five extra-base hits. And Sale, with those long arms and legs and low arm slot, is as funky as it gets.
Aside from Schwarber and Castellanos, though, the rest of the Phillies’ lineup was 3-for-29 on Tuesday with one walk and no extra-base hits. The 6 through 9 hitters, so productive through nine games, went 0-for-15.
Tuesday began a stretch of 16 games in 16 days for the Phils so they’ll have to be careful with not only their starting pitchers but also the relievers after five straight close games decided by one or two runs.
Wednesday’s assignment belongs to Taijuan Walker, who will try to build upon his best start in two years.
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