QUEENS, N.Y. \u2014 Francisco Alvarez tagged an Andrew Painter fastball that caught the outer edge up and away.<\/p>\n
The three-run homer put New York ahead 4-3 in the fifth, one half-inning after the Phillies had taken the lead.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia had grabbed the momentum in its eighth-to-last game of the regular season. Painter watched it fly over the wall.<\/p>\n
But the inning had started four batters earlier with something that has hurt him before: a leadoff walk.<\/p>\n
Four pitches. None competitive.<\/p>\n
A single followed, then Alvarez made him pay.<\/p>\n
Before Alvarez even reached home plate, Painter was already back on the rubber, hands held high near his face and eyes locked toward home.<\/p>\n
A frustrating moment for the rookie in the Phillies’ 10-3 loss to the Mets on Saturday at Citi Field.<\/p>\n
His next pitch was his hardest of the night at 99.4 mph, which Ronny Mauricio fouled away. Painter then battled Mauricio for nine pitches before striking him out with a changeup.<\/p>\n
He followed by striking out Francisco Lindor for the second time, then Juan Soto to end the inning.<\/p>\n
Don Mattingly sent Painter back out for the sixth, where he struck out Bo Bichette. With left-handed hitter Carson Benge coming up, Mattingly went to the bullpen.<\/p>\n
On the surface, there was plenty to like. Painter struck out seven and walked one. His four-seam fastball had plenty of life.<\/p>\n
But the issue that has followed him throughout his rookie season showed up again.<\/p>\n
All four runs he allowed came on home runs.<\/p>\n
IN BUNCHES<\/p>\n
When Painter has allowed homers lately, they have tended to come together.<\/p>\n
In the nine starts since his July 31 return to the majors, Painter has allowed six home runs. All six have come across three multi-homer outings.<\/p>\n
Location was the biggest issue early in his season, particularly before his demotion. The pitch to Alvarez was different.<\/p>\n
Painter wanted the fastball a little farther inside, but didn’t view the pitch itself as the biggest mistake of the inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing is looking back on the four-pitch walk to lead off the inning,\u201d Painter said. \u201cIt’s more so the spiral effect of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s four non-competitive pitches right out of the gate after a long inning. It just sets its own tone. We score a couple runs there, we take a lead. My job is to go out there and have a shutdown inning. That’s just not what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Home runs have accounted for 48 percent of the 75 earned runs Painter has allowed this season.<\/p>\n
His 1.48 homers allowed per nine innings ranks 20th-highest among 108 starters with at least 20 starts. Before his demotion, he ranked eighth-highest.<\/p>\n
But what happened after the Alvarez homer also stood out.<\/p>\n
Painter responded with four consecutive strikeouts, beginning with Mauricio and carrying into the sixth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen stuff like that happens, it lights a little bit of a fire,\u201d Painter said. \u201cThat’s not to say I was on cruise control or anything like that. Every pitch I make is full intent and trying to execute it. But it lights a little bit of a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mattingly wasn’t surprised by the response.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t worry about Paint’s toughness, honestly,\u201d he said. \u201cBouncing back and continuing to make pitches. I don’t worry about Paint from the standpoint of growth, handling situations.\u201d<\/p>\n
HIS ROLE AHEAD?<\/p>\n
Mattingly said Saturday that Jes\u00fas Luzardo continues to feel better each day, which is encouraging.<\/p>\n
But Luzardo still has not thrown a baseball in more than a week.<\/p>\n
There are several steps ahead before he could return to a major league mound. He first has to resume throwing, progress to mound work and continue building from there.<\/p>\n
With Luzardo looking increasingly unlikely to start early in a potential Wild Card Series, Aaron Nola could be pushed into a possible Game 3 if the Phillies are able to line up their rotation the way they want.<\/p>\n
That leaves an interesting question for Painter.<\/p>\n
He has started throughout this season and essentially his entire career, but his stuff could make him an intriguing option to bridge a game to the later innings.<\/p>\n
Mattingly acknowledged Saturday that a shorter role is still among the possibilities the Phillies could consider.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s a lot of things you think about as you’re going through it,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cSo, yeah, that’s something that you would think about and have that for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Painter doesn’t believe the adjustment would require much of a trial run beforehand.<\/p>\n
\u201cPostseason baseball and that atmosphere, the adrenaline’s going to be flowing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t really think there’s too much of an adjustment that’s going to be. I think the adrenaline would just take over from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday offered another reminder of why the Phillies may need someone capable of covering those innings.<\/p>\n
Brooks Raley allowed two runs in the sixth after replacing Painter, extending the Mets’ lead.<\/p>\n
Phillies relievers working from the fifth through seventh innings this season have combined for a league-worst 5.28 ERA. It is the club’s highest mark in those innings over a full season, excluding 2020, since 2005.<\/p>\n
Mattingly called that part of the bullpen a \u201ctrouble spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven’t been able to keep the game in check in that middle,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cEven though Paint gives up the homer on a previous pitch after we score, it’s still 4-3 at that point. You keep the game in check, you feel okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Painter hasn’t exactly been dominant from the first pitch of every start, either.<\/p>\n
But the routine would be different in relief. His ramp-up would be different. His fastball could play up in shorter bursts.<\/p>\n
And considering how much the Phillies have struggled in the middle innings, the bar isn’t particularly high.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Bowlan’s uncertain status because of his right groin injury only makes the possibility more intriguing.<\/p>\n
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE<\/p>\n
It felt like the Phillies had a chance to take control when they went ahead 3-1 in the fifth.<\/p>\n
Then Alvarez changed the game.<\/p>\n
The Phillies actually went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but still stranded nine.<\/p>\n
A large part of the problem came from the bottom of the lineup.<\/p>\n
Phillies hitters in the seven-through-nine spots entered the night batting .186 in September, the fourth-lowest mark in the majors.<\/p>\n
They haven’t consistently been setting the table for a top of the order that carried the offense for long stretches in August.<\/p>\n
Mattingly saw better signs from the top Saturday, pointing to several well-struck balls that found gloves.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrea having really good at-bats. Top four of the order was good,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cLuis gets a couple knocks. Harp with that ball against the double. Schwarber’s having good at-bats. But we just haven’t been able to cook through the other side of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are only seven games left to find an answer.<\/p>\n
BOHM’S UNIQUE YEAR<\/p>\n
The Phillies got multi-hit games from Trea Turner, Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm.<\/p>\n
Bohm has quietly been one of their steadiest hitters for months, which makes it fair to wonder what his season might have looked like without a forgettable first month-plus.<\/p>\n
He drove in his 85th run Saturday.<\/p>\n
Considering where he started, that’s no small number.<\/p>\n
Mattingly gave Bohm a pair of reset days before his two-homer game on May 9. Since then, his production has looked much more like the hitter the Phillies have known in recent seasons.<\/p>\n
Over a 162-game pace since May 9, Bohm’s numbers translate to a .280 average, 20 home runs, 57 extra-base hits and 102 RBI.<\/p>\n
Sound familiar?<\/p>\n
Bohm recorded at least 50 extra-base hits and 97 RBI in both 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n
His regular season has already undergone a significant recovery.<\/p>\n
If that carries into October, the way his 2026 season is remembered could look much different \u2014 with an interesting offseason still waiting on the other side.<\/p>\n
KERKERING KEEPS STRUGGLING<\/p>\n
The Phillies went back to Orion Kerkering in the eighth, one night after he allowed a three-run homer to Juan Soto.<\/p>\n
There was logic to it.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia needs Kerkering to get right before the postseason, and with the Phillies trailing by three, Mattingly wasn’t going to turn to one of his highest-leverage arms.<\/p>\n
He believed Kerkering was the best option.<\/p>\n
Saturday only made the situation more complicated.<\/p>\n
Kerkering allowed four earned runs in the eighth as the game turned into a rout. He has now surrendered seven runs in two nights and owns a 17.05 ERA over his last seven outings and a 10.80 ERA over his last 15.<\/p>\n
Mattingly didn’t downplay where things stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems to be spiraling a little bit,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cI’d say a pretty high degree of worry about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Phillies could attempt to find Kerkering lower-leverage situations, but even that has become difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be able to use him there,\u201d Mattingly said of Saturday’s situation. \u201cIn a game like that, I’m not going to try to chase a three-run deficit in that inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s hard to find any places to use him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The stuff that has made Kerkering one of the Phillies’ most important relievers hasn’t disappeared.<\/p>\n
But right now, the results have.<\/p>\n
And with seven games remaining, the Phillies are running out of time to determine where he fits when the stakes get even higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QUEENS, N.Y. \u2014 Francisco Alvarez tagged an Andrew Painter fastball that caught the outer edge up and away.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":853834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,201779,99],"class_list":["post-853833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-phillies-analysis","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}