see playoff tracker<\/a> \u2014 but they\u2019ve followed a 21-7 August with a 9-12 September and have been held to two runs the last two games.<\/p>\nAfter Thursday night\u2019s loss, Trea Turner was asked if he was surprised the Phillies are having such trouble locking down a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s how it\u2019s been all year for us, really. It\u2019s been a tough year, ups and downs. We\u2019re still in a spot to take care of business, win a couple of games and get in. We haven\u2019t done it yet, but we still have a chance, so get ready for tomorrow and try to play our best baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manager Don Mattingly was asked if the team was having trouble dealing with mounting pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that,\u201d he said, mentioning how difficult an opponent the 100-win Brewers are.<\/p>\n
A moment later, however, Mattingly conceded, \u201cWe should be feeling some pressure. I know I feel some pressure. But it\u2019s that time of year. You\u2019re trying to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turner said the team was feeling more frustration than pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how good we can be and at times we haven\u2019t played up to that standard,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels like one thing doesn\u2019t go your way and it\u2019s, \u2018Here we go again.\u2019 I feel like we\u2019ve had good at-bats and hit some balls hard the last two days but we just haven\u2019t scored enough runs. That\u2019s the frustrating part. Putting up one run is not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
On top of the loss to Milwaukee and all the stress caused by it, the Phils may have lost second baseman Luis Arraez to an injury at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n
Arraez left the game after suffering a sprained left ankle while trying to avoid a tag at first base in the sixth inning. There was no immediate update on his condition, but it didn\u2019t look good. He required the assistance of team athletic trainers as he hobbled off the field. While the Phillies got good news Thursday on Jesus Luzardo \u2013 the lefty, on the injured list with shoulder inflammation, threw a bullpen session and could be ready for the first round of the playoffs \u2013 the timing on the Arraez injury is not ideal. The playoffs begin on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Maybe the Phillies will be there.<\/p>\n
Maybe they won\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in the driver\u2019s seat,\u201d Bryce Harper said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to win. We\u2019ve got to take care of our business. We can\u2019t really worry about what any other team is doing. We\u2019ve just got to keep going. We\u2019ve got Tampa coming in. They\u2019re a great team. We\u2019ve got to go out and play our baseball. We can\u2019t worry about what anyone is feeling or what\u2019s going on. We\u2019ve just got to win. Arizona did their job. They went into Colorado and swept them. Now, we\u2019ve got to do ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Phils got a nice start from rookie Andrew Painter and a scoreless inning from fellow rookie Alex McFarlane on Thursday night. The game was tied at 1-1 entering the eighth when reliever Jose Alvarado gave up a walk and two singles to the first three hitters. All three ended up scoring as the Brewers took a 4-1 lead. The crowd of 37,177, which arrived hoping to see the Phillies move to within a game of a playoff berth, ended up booing. The Brewers tagged on another run in the ninth. More boos.<\/p>\n
In his final regular season start, Painter allowed just one run over six innings. He gave up five hits, three walks and struck out eight.<\/p>\n
Painter finished his first season in the majors with a 5.41 ERA in 126 1\/3 innings. While the overall ERA was far from stellar, there were signs of promise. Painter was sent to the minors with a 7.06 ERA on June 17. At the time, his fastball was getting pounded and his confidence was wounded. No one knew if the former first-round draft pick would even be back in the majors this season.<\/p>\n
But Painter made some fixes at Triple A. He ditched his splitter, added a new changeup and cleaned up some mechanical flaws in his delivery that allowed him to drive off the rubber toward home plate more. Soon, his fastball ticked up. He returned to the majors on July 31 and made 11 starts, including Thursday night. In those starts, he recorded a 3.65 ERA in 61 2\/3 innings, struck out 62 and walked 23.<\/p>\n
Painter struck out eight on Thursday night, including three in the first inning, all on changeups. In all, he got six strikeouts on the pitch. His fastball hit 97.7 mph and averaged 96 mph. Painter might not start a game in the postseason, should the Phils get there, but he\u2019ll surely be on the roster and could be a factor out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, the second half of his rookie season should end up being a confidence booster for the 23-year-old right-hander heading into next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to be good,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to be really good. I think Philadelphia is going to like this kid for a while.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pressure is rising at Citizens Bank Park. The vise is tightening. Is that Chico Ruiz out there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":860196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,201779,99],"class_list":["post-860195","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\/860195","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=860195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}