Baseball's worst defensive team lives down to reputation once again

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Baseball’s worst defensive team rides again.

For a while, it looked like defense was going to save the Phillies on Wednesday night.

In the end, it killed them.

Again.

The Phillies blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth inning and suffered a demoralizing 4-2 loss to the Miami Marlins in South Florida.

Aaron Nola pitched six innings of one-run ball and left with a one-run lead after centerfielder Odubel Herrera robbed a would-be home run from Isan Diaz to end the sixth.

Herrera’s catch was arguably the defensive highlight of the season for a team that has been embarrassingly bad in that area of the game.

Two innings after Herrera’s leaping gem at the wall, the Phillies’ defense imploded. A potential double play went unturned. Catcher Andrew Knapp allowed a passed ball to put two runners in scoring position. Jon Berti then gave the Marlins the lead with a two-run single and Jose Devers followed with an RBI single to increase the lead to two runs.

All the runs came against reliever Sam Coonrod, who didn’t help himself with a two-out walk to Diaz one batter before Berti’s go-ahead hit. Diaz entered the game hitting .140.

The loss dropped the Phillies to 24-26. They are 3-7 in Miami over the last two seasons.

Instead of going for a series win in Miami on Thursday, the Phils will look for a series split behind starter Spencer Howard.

The Phillies have scored just four runs the last two nights against Miami.

That, along with the defense, was a big part of the problem Wednesday night.

“When you score two runs, your room for error is so little,” manager Joe Girardi lamented.

Three key Phillies, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Didi Gregorius, are on the injured list. The Phillies miss those bats. On top of it all, Alec Bohm has struggled at the plate.

Looking for some more offense, Girardi played Brad Miller at third base in place of Bohm on Wednesday night. Defense is not Miller’s strength and that reality bit the Phillies when he made a bad throw to second on a would-be double play ball in the bottom of the eighth. The Phils got one out on the play thanks to a nice scoop by second baseman Jean Segura. But they should have had two. The next batter, Jorge Alfaro, grounded out. The Phils could have been out of the inning unscathed and with their one-run lead intact.

“We can turn that double play and we didn’t and it’s frustrating,” Girardi said.

Besides that play and the passed ball, there were other defensive blunders, most notably left fielder Andrew McCutchen holding onto the ball and allowing the Marlins to take an extra base earlier in the game. That play did not come back to bite the Phillies. But make enough defensive miscues and they will.

For the record, the Phils entered the game ranked last in the majors in defensive runs saved (DRS), according to Fangraphs. The Phils were at minus-32 DRS. The next closest team, the Angels, were at minus-24. The Phillies were the only team in the NL East with a minus rating. The Nationals and Mets both had 28 DRS to rank second and third in the majors, the Marlins were 10th with 13 DRS and the Braves were 14th with 6.

Nola battled command issues – he walked three and hit a batter – but was able to hold the Marlins to two hits and a run over six innings.

Twenty-six of the Phillies’ 50 games have been decided by one or two runs.

After the game, Nola was asked what was more draining on a staff, pitching in so many one- and two-run games, or seeing the defense give away so many outs.

“Every loss for us pitchers is tough,” the always diplomatic right-hander said. “I don’t know. A loss is a loss in my book. Close games are tough when you lose ‘em. They're also sweet when you pull ‘em out.”

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Roman Quinn led off the frame with a double and scored when Miller was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and one out. The situation was ripe for the Phillies to get more in the inning, but they failed to do so as Rhys Hoskins grounded out and Herrera struck out to leave the bases full. The Phils ended the night 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

Miami tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Nola issued a two-out walk to extend the inning then gave up an RBI single to Jesus Aguilar on an 0-2 sinker that was elevated and caught too much plate.

The Phils manufactured a run to take the lead in the fifth inning. Segura reached base on an error to open the inning and moved to third on a base hit by Miller. Segura was running on the play, made third base easily and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hoskins, who increased his team-high RBI total to 30.

Herrera protected the lead with his homer-run thievery in the sixth.

“Oof,” Nola said. “Unbelievable catch. Awesome.”

It would have been quite a story -- baseball’s worst defensive team gets back to .500 thanks to a big defensive play. But in the end, it was more of the ugliness we’ve come to expect. Baseball’s worst defensive team lived down to its reputation.

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