Phillies on the verge of another first-round exit down 2-0 vs. Dodgers in NLDS.
Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner have been unable to deliver so far.
Dodgers can clinch with win in Game 3 on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
PHILADELPHIA — A few players sat around in small groups Monday night in the Philadelphia Phillies clubhouse. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos huddled, talking in hushed tones. Bryce Harper departed quickly to be with his newborn baby. Phillies manager Rob Thomson sat behind a podium trying to explain his rationale for late-game decisions.
This is a new year, an improved team, with lofty expectations and even bigger hype – but the results are the same.
The powerful Phillies, who came into October as perhaps the World Series favorites, are about to pack everything up for an early exit and a long winter.
Loudly booed most of the night by their sellout crowd of 45,653 at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies staged a frenzied ninth-inning rally, only to be beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3, going down 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
They are on the brink of elimination.
Once again.
The Phillies, who ran away with the NL East title, are now 2-9 in their last 11 postseason games.
They were supposed to have a huge home-field advantage with their fierce and intense crowd, only to have now lost five of their last six postseason games in Philadelphia.
This is a team loaded with All-Stars, but they have been almost completely shut down.
Once again.
This is a team that was in the World Series in 2022. They were one game away from returning to the World Series in 2023.
Now, they’re one game away from their second consecutive first-round exit, leaving Thomson’s future in jeopardy, while debating what personnel changes need to be made.
“We’ve got to flip the script,