Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/mwzm68en
Originally published July 25, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — Trea Turner led off with the score tied in the bottom of the fifth Saturday evening against the New York Yankees and proceeded to put together an epic, 11-pitch at-bat that included taking three very close balls — a sweeper just inside, a changeup barely low and a sinker just off the outside edge — and fouling off six pitches.
Ultimately, he went down swinging.
It was another near miss for the Phillies, who lost 3-1 and dropped their third straight series since the All-Star break, previously losing to the Mets and Dodgers. They should have beaten the Mets and Dodgers, but blunders in the field and on the basepaths, plus cold bats, proved the difference.
It was a reminder of recent Octobers, when the Phillies have been right there against good competition only to come up short.
The Phillies have squandered some stellar pitching performances recently, including from Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo. Even in Saturday’s bullpen game, the Phillies’ hodgepodge of short-inning guys kept them in it, but Philadelphia ended up losing in front of a sellout crowd of 44,552 at Citizens Bank Park while a huge contingent of Yankees fans cheered throughout the stands.
“I felt like it was a good at-bat,” Turner said about the fifth inning. “I missed a couple strikes and then just chased a pitch or two at the end. It was frustrating because you’re competing out there, but you tip your cap.”
Turner, who ended up 1-for-3, started the bottom of the first with a hit-by-pitch. Kyle Schwarber followed with a double to center, and Harper brought home Turner with a sac fly. But after an Alec Bohm groundout and Edmundo Sosa strikeout, the Phils had to settle for just that one run, and they never scored again.
In the first two games of the Yankees series, the Phils were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
“Obviously, (the offense) hasn’t been great (since the break),” manager Don Mattingly said. “We haven’t really scored. But the one thing you can rest assured, nobody’s going up there not trying to get hits. We’re not going into the game not trying to score. We are in a spot where we haven’t scored and we haven’t swung the bats great, but we gotta continue to work and keep fighting through it.
“This is not a young club that’s gonna give up on themselves. … They’re not gonna quit playing. There’s a long way to go. There’s gonna be a lot of big series coming, a lot of baseball to be played. I don’t think there’s gonna be a panic within the club of all of a sudden we’re not a good club.”
It was the Phillies’ fourth straight loss as their second-half record fell to 2-6. In five of those six defeats, they scored one run or fewer. They had once closed the gap behind the NL East-leading Braves to two games, but Saturday it slipped to 5½.
This is their first real swoon under Mattingly.
“You’d like to win every series,” Mattingly said. “You hit a stretch where you’re not playing good, you’re running into some good teams and you’re not scoring, it makes it tough. Like early in the year, we run into the Braves and the Cubs when they’re both on fire and we don’t do anything with them. But that doesn’t mean we can’t beat them. It means we just gotta get going again.”
Every time the Phillies falter against postseason-level opponents, it raises concerns about October. Plus, beating high-caliber opponents would bring some confidence.
So far this year, the Phillies have lost two series to the Dodgers, two to the Cubs, two to the Braves, one to Cleveland, one to Arizona, one to the Rangers, one to Milwaukee and one to the Yankees.
All those clubs would make the playoffs if the season ended today.
The only current playoff teams they’ve won series against are the Red Sox and White Sox (one apiece). They have yet to play Tampa Bay, which leads the AL East.
“You want to play well,” Turner said. “We’re not doing enough as a team, really, just picking each other up here and there. But when there’s good teams on the other side of the field, you don’t get to make mistakes or get many extra opportunities. So we’ve just gotta play a little bit better.
“But yeah, if you run into a good team and you beat them in a series, I think it gives you confidence. … It hasn’t been our best (since the break). I think we know that. We want to play better. I just think it kind of goes back to what Donnie said early on when he got the job, it’s just 3 hours of competing and don’t let your foot off the gas. I don’t think it’s a lack of effort, but I do think we need to get that back a little bit.”
A rookie at age 32
Right-hander Brian Keller, a 32-year-old journeyman whom the Phillies signed to a minor league deal in May, made his major league debut — facing the franchise that drafted him in the 39th round 10 years ago. Mattingly called his number in the third inning after Tim Mayza served as the opener.
Keller immediately struck out Jazz Chisolm and got a groundout from Jose Caballero, but Austin Wells homered over the left-center field wall. Keller recovered, allowing just a single the rest of the way while finishing with three strikeouts and no walks over three frames.
“It was amazing, a dream come true,” a beaming Keller said. “It felt good to start on a high note, for sure. You picture it over and over. You picture it going well and you picture going poorly, but I’m glad it turned out all right.
“You know, I was surprisingly calm out there. So yeah, really happy.”
The 6-foot-3 Keller, who spent time playing in Japan and came back from Tommy John surgery, had about 20 family and friends in attendance. He made a combined 10 starts this season for the rookie-level Florida Complex League Phillies and Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, posting a 2.06 ERA with 41 strikeouts, 12 walks and a 0.99 WHIP while limiting opposing hitters to a .188 average.
In his last four starts with the IronPigs since June 24, Keller had a 0.82 ERA and a 0.59 WHIP. He has played seven minor league seasons in the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies systems. He also played in the Hanshin Tigers’ farm system in 2023 before suffering elbow problems.
“He handled himself fine,” Mattingly said, shaking his head positively. “He threw strikes, he went after them. … He threw the ball over the plate, was on the attack, wasn’t walking people. So that part of it, we like.”
New outfield acquisition
The Phillies acquired outfielder Kameron Misner from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster, outfielder Steward Berroa was designated for assignment.
Misner, 28, was originally selected by the Royals in the first round (35th overall) in the 2019 draft out of the University of Missouri. The lefty played in 18 games for Kansas City this season and made 11 starts among all three outfield positions. In 41 at-bats, he slashed .220/.256/.244 with four RBIs and three stolen bases.
In 63 games for Triple-A Omaha this year, his slash line was .286/.378/.563 with a .941 OPS in 270 plate appearances. Last season, he played a total of 503.2 innings in the outfield for the Royals and was credited with five defensive runs saved and three outs above average.
He also played with the Tampa Bay Rays for two years before returning to Kansas City.
Berroa, 27, played in six games for the Phillies this season and made appearances at all three outfield spots. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Berroa was acquired by the Phillies from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations April 8.
Notes
● The Phillies are 9-24 this season when they don’t hit a home run.
● Closer Jhoan Duran, with a perfect ninth, extended his scoreless innings streak to a career-high 13⅔.
● Brandon Marsh is batting .165 in July. His average is down 51 points from a season-high .338 to .287. He’s hitting just .233 vs. lefties, so Mattingly has returned to mostly starting him against right-handers, at least for now. He pinch-hit Saturday and finished 0-for-2.
● LHP Tanner Banks (forearm) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. … RHP Alex McFarlane was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley following Friday night’s game. … LHP Kyle Backhus was recalled from Lehigh Valley. … RHP Max Lazar was optioned to Lehigh Valley.
● Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger, who was awarded the MLB All-Star Game MVP in this ballpark the previous week, suffered an injury to his left hamstring rounding first on a double in the top of the eighth. He later exited the game.
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.