Orion’s curse: Marlins 7, Phillies 5

Jesus rose to the occasion today, but the bullpen did not

Getting a sweep of a team is never easy, no matter how bad that team may be. Getting one at home against the Marlins should have been attainable seeing as how the bats have come alive in the series, but once again, the bullpen faltered.

Getting Jesus Luzardo another start at home, he was excellent in his seven innings of work, holding the Marlins to one run over those seven innings. He may not have had his strikeout stuff that he has had in the past few, but he still kept the Marlins off balance.

The Phillies would get on the board first in the opening frame. Bryson Stott and Trea Turner singled to begin the inning, then scored on a double by Bryce Harper to make the score 2-0.

Nick Castellanos hit a one out single to bring in Harper, making a 3-0 lead after the first inning.

Luzardo would hold that lead during his outing. His one hiccup was a second inning sacrifice fly that made it 3-1 and allowing a run to score on an error by Stott, but other than those (even Harper should have had the ball that Matt Mervis was gifted a double), he was just good and efficient and it was a pleasure to watch him. His outing had to come to an end, and in the eighth, Orion Kerkering was brought in to bridge the gap to Jose Alvarado.

It did not end as he would have hoped.

The Phillies tied in their half of the eighth on an infield single by Cal Stevenson, recently promoted after Brandon Marsh hit the injured list.

The game went to extra innings, but once again, the bullpen stumbled with Matt Strahm the culprit. And guess who it was again? That’s right, Javier Sanoja.

Whether we want to believe it or not, the Phillies have a bullpen issue right now. Jordan Romano has been rough outside of a few decent outings. The middle innings have been hard with multiple reliable pitchers in Joe Ross and Jose Ruiz struggling as well. There is still quite a bit of time for all of the struggling pitchers to right the ship, so there is no real reason to panic too badly. But there has to be a recognition that upgrades can and should be made if they are available.