Phillies doomed by too many strikeouts and too much Marcus Stroman

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Ben Davis knows the season is VERY young, but he’s a little concerned with the Phillies lackluster play and poor offensive output through 11 games.

At nine seasons, the Phillies are riding the longest postseason drought in the National League and if they’re going to break it this year, they must play better on the road than they have in recent seasons.

So far, so bad.

Five games into a seven-game road trip, their first of the new season, the Phils are 1-4.

They lost two of three over the weekend in Atlanta and on Tuesday night were swept in a doubleheader by the New York Mets at Citi Field.

The Mets won the opener, 4-3, in extra innings. Remember, doubleheaders are seven-inning affairs. The Mets trailed by a run heading into the bottom of the eighth and rallied for two to walk it off on Hector Neris.

The Mets came back in the nightcap and dominated the Phillies, 4-0, behind six shutout innings from Marcus Stroman, who convincingly out-pitched Aaron Nola.

The sweep left the Phils at 6-5 and the Mets at 4-3.

The Phillies are 77-119 on the road since the start of the 2018 season. That’s the second worst mark in the league over that span. Only Miami has been worse.

“We’ve gotten behind on this trip,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We haven’t played from ahead on this trip and that’s hard to do, especially against the quality of teams we’re playing.”

Nola has not pitched well in two straight starts, both against the Mets. He lasted just four innings in his previous start against them. In this one, he allowed three runs in the fourth inning. He faced eight batters in the frame, gave up four hits and hit a batter.

“I don’t think he had great command,” Girardi said. “This team just makes him work."

Nola was far from the Phillies’ biggest problem on the night.

The offense was putrid.

All night.

The Phils struck out 14 times in the first game. Seven of their first 11 hitters struck out against Mets starter Taijuan Walker. Through 11 games, Phillies hitters have struck out 107 times.

Overall, the Phils had just six hits in Game 1 and they were 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position.

The Phils also had just six hits in the nightcap. They struck out just three times but did not draw a walk.

Of their 12 hits on the night, only one was for extra bases. They were 3 for 14 combined with runners in scoring position.

“We’re capable of swinging the bats better,” Girardi said. “Right now, we’re facing a lot of guys who are throwing well.”

In Game 1, the Phillies top four hitters – Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm -- went 2 for 13. Hoskins and McCutchen combined for six strikeouts.

McCutchen did not start the second game. Matt Joyce got the nod in left field. McCutchen has struggled in the early going, hitting .156 (5 for 32) with 10 strikeouts and seven walks.

Over in center field, the Phils have gotten zero production. Roman Quinn is 1 for 17 with a walk and nine strikeouts. Adam Haseley is 4 for 21 with no walks and four strikeouts.

Quinn started the first game and ran into the third out on the bases in the fifth inning. There were two men on and Hoskins was at the plate at the time. Quinn actually had third base swiped but over-slid the bag and was tagged out. If he holds the bag, no one says a thing. But running into the out with a solid RBI threat at the plate left Girardi with some explaining to do.

Girardi was asked if Quinn had a green light there.

“I’m not going to talk about strategy, but I didn’t have a problem with him stealing third base, I’ll tell you that,” the manager said.

Haseley started in centerfield in Game 2 and didn’t help Nola in that fourth inning when he appeared to be slow getting to a soft line-drive hit by Kevin Pillar. Nola could have used that out.

“I’m going to have to look at it on video, but I think he had a shot at it,” Girardi said.

Defense has really hurt the Phillies on this trip. Bohm made two errors that set up a three-run home run in Atlanta on Friday night. Jose Alvarado didn’t know what to do with the ball with the game on the line Saturday night. Ronald Acuna Jr. outran Didi Gregorius’ defense on a routine ground ball Sunday night, setting the table for a two-run homer.

The defense must improve if this team is going to do the things it wants to. The offense, too.

The center field position remains in the crosshairs of it all, but no changes seem imminent.

“Right now, these are the guys that we have,” Girardi said. “Obviously, there are guys in Lehigh Valley that are trying to get up here. If we felt they were ready, they’d be here, but we don’t feel they’re where they need to be.”

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