\u201cWhen you talk about games,\u201d Mattingly said, \u201cyou talk about small things. Most of the time, you don\u2019t pay attention to it. You think about the home run or the big hit or the out you didn\u2019t get. But there\u2019s games that small things cost you runs, chances. And it can cost you a game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Phillies know the feeling all too well. But, three weeks away from what this club hopes is the start of a meaningful October, this lineup is still haunted by the small mistakes \u2014 the type that can spiral into postseason pain.<\/p>\n
Not even two weeks ago in Los Angeles, the Phillies had four runners thrown out at third and home in a two-game span. And on Tuesday in Philadelphia, a few decisions \u2014 out of the box and on the bases \u2014 proved game-changing as the Phillies attempted to come back from an early 5-0 deficit.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026-09-09T020910Z_1031708798_MT1USATODAY29769004_RTRMADP_3_MLB-HOUSTON-ASTROS-AT-PHILADELPHIA-PHILL.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Alec Bohm scored a run in the seventh, but his hesitation on the basepaths earlier in the play ultimately proved costly. (Kyle Ross \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
First there was Bohm doubling back \u2014 a debatable decision, certainly, with a strong center fielder and a ball hit toward one of the trickiest parts of Citizens Bank Park. But Bohm retreating slowed Stott behind him and potentially cost the Phillies another run in a tight game. Mattingly, who was Daulton Varsho\u2019s bench coach in Toronto, said that he\u2019s seen him catch a ball like Marsh\u2019s in center field. So he understood Bohm\u2019s hesitation while waiting to see if Varsho, the Astros\u2019 center fielder, tracked it down.<\/p>\n
That was immediately followed by a perhaps more costly mishap, as J.T. Realmuto hit a ball toward the gap between third base and shortstop. The Astros\u2019 Jeremy Pe\u00f1a laid out to make an excellent catch. And Marsh, who was on second after his double, had broken so hard toward third that Pe\u00f1a easily made a double play. The Phillies, with two runners in scoring positions and no outs, suddenly found themselves with two outs and with just Stott on third.<\/p>\n
Marsh said it was \u201cunacceptable\u201d for him to take a step toward third.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the heat of the moment,\u201d he said, \u201c(I) thought it was getting through \u2014 hit hard, hooking toward that hole between third and short. But there\u2019s really no excuse, no explanation, other than I was just wrong. And I have to clean that up and be better in the future if we want to be where we want to be at the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the base running took center stage, another poor decision was made by Edmundo Sosa with the game on the line. He hit a ball 100 mph off Josh Hader, the Astros\u2019 dominant closer, and watched it sail toward right field before breaking out of the box with a runner on and no outs in the ninth inning. What may have been a triple was instead a double; Hader then recorded three straight outs to end the game.<\/p>\n
That closed out a loss to a flawed but talented Astros, who will very likely make the playoffs. They became one of many teams to exploit the Phillies\u2019 struggles with fundamentals.<\/p>\n
There have been rough moments spread over the course of the regular season: Bryce Harper caught stealing home against the Angels, Derek Hill not keeping his head up to look for a stop sign at third in that same series, Realmuto\u2019s poor base running that led to a game-ending double play against the Dodgers in July, Marsh\u2019s mistake on Tuesday. And, on occasion, other teams have countered Phillies\u2019 blunders with their own sterling fundamentals. (How could anyone forget, from last October, that wheel play?<\/a>)<\/p>\n Tuesday, in the standings at least, the miscues didn\u2019t hurt the Phillies (81-64) as much as they might have. Losses by the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs kept the Phillies four back in the National League East and a half game ahead in the race for the top wild-card spot, respectively, with 17 games to play.<\/p>\n After the Phillies\u2019 four self-inflicted outs at third and home against the Angels in late August, Mattingly said \u201cit\u2019s something that\u2019s going to happen now and then.\u201d He did not take issue with all of the decision-making or aggressiveness during that series.<\/p>\n But any time it happens, he said Tuesday, it is something to learn from.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should always stay on it,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cPlayers are better probably now than they\u2019ve ever been. Pitchers are throwing harder and (are) tougher to hit than they\u2019ve ever been. Base running, for me, has kind of went a little backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n That has sometimes shown up in the Phillies\u2019 play. And, this time of year, it is easy to remember just how often differences in fundamentals set teams apart in the postseason. Good teams will punish their opponents for any mistake \u2014 though late-game theatrics, which the Phillies have mastered of late, could provide some relief in October. That was not enough to save this team on Tuesday, but better fundamental decision-making just might have.<\/p>\n \u2014 Matt Gelb contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Before Houston Astros outfielders scrambled to get to Brandon Marsh\u2019s double rolling through center field in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,2365,85],"class_list":["post-885744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}