When Garrett Stubbs pitches in the final two innings, you know that either the Phillies blew out the opponent or they were blown out themselves. Saturday in Atlanta, it was the latter.

The Philadelphia Phillies found themselves embarrassed once more on Saturday as the Atlanta Braves defeated them 12-2 in Atlanta. The Phillies now own a 3-9 record against the Braves in 2026, the most losses they have recorded against a team since 2022.

Acknowledge the good

We will start with a moment of acknowledging the good before we get to the bad. Bryce Harper hit a solo home run in the top of the first. He connected on a 1-2 fastball from Tyler Mahle for his 28th home run of the season. Harper now has 391 home runs in his career, inching closer toward joining the 400-home run club.

Justin Crawford scored the Phillies’ other run, hitting his third Major League home run in the top of the seventh.

With Jesús Luzardo scratched due to shoulder inflammation, the Phillies went to Tim Mayza to open the game. Mayza pitched admirably, keeping the Braves scoreless through three innings of work, his longest outing since 2024.

On a night where the Phillies needed someone to step up and get the game started on the right foot, Mayza delivered. Unfortunately, the pitchers behind him turned a one-run lead into an eight-run fourth inning.

And then the floodgates opened up

Brooks Raley entered to pitch the bottom of the fourth, but could only record two outs in the inning. He allowed three runs including a solo home run to Ronald Acuña Jr. Raley had a 1.96 ERA for the Mets when the Phillies traded for him. His ERA with the Phillies is more than triple his previous team’s at 6.97.

Grant Holman then came in to finish the inning. If that name is not familiar to you, it is because Saturday was Holman’s first appearance in a Major League game all season. Four base hits, one walk, and a fielding error from Bryson Stott later, Holman got Matt Olson to fly out to end the inning with the Braves leading 8-1.

Orion Kerkering made his first appearance in a game since September 4. Though he struggled, he got through the fifth inning without any damage. The sixth inning, he was not so lucky. The reliever allowed two base runners to reach on a walk and an error from Alec Bohm before passing the ball off to Chase Shugart. Shugart allowed one of the inherited runners to score, getting two outs on the inning and pushing two outs into the seventh before Don Mattingly decided enough was enough from the bullpen.

Garrett Stubbs entered the game from there, allowing three runs over the final four outs of work.

On a night where the Phillies needed to trust the bullpen to fill in as one of their top pitchers went down with an injury, the bullpen failed. If the Phillies cannot trust their bullpen to stay competitive in a pinch, how can they expect the bullpen to be competitive in the postseason?

The offense supplied two solo home runs and nothing else. The defense contributed two errors. Mayza gave the Phillies a chance. Nearly everything that followed wasted it.

The fallout continues for the Phillies

There is no way to sugarcoat it, the Philadelphia Phillies are failing in September. With a 4-7 record on the month and 13 games to go, the Phillies are slowly slipping out of the playoff picture.

Dropping to 82-67 on the season, the Phillies are now one game back from the Cubs for the top Wild Card slot. More concerning is that the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are only 1.5 and 2.5 games back from them, respectively.

Rookie pitcher Andrew Painter will hope to spark something as he starts against Grant Holmes on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

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