Benoit and bullpen simply awful in loss to Mariners | Bob Brookover
Joaquin Benoit says roles in the pen need to be more defined. Pete Mackanin says his starters struggles have prevented that from happening.
The Phillies completed their third homestand Wednesday afternoon and this was the one that drove home the point that they'll be waiting for next year again this year. Maybe that's OK with you. Maybe you came into this season with the low expectation that the struggles of today will lead to a better tomorrow.
This is, after all, the city that has turned "The Process" into a cliche. Just be patient and there's a rainbow waiting on the other side of the landfill. Grab a beer and watch every game as if it's an exhibition. Pretend the Phillies never left the forgiving confines of Spectrum Field in Clearwater.
Oh, sure, the Seattle Mariners smoked Phillies pitchers for 31 hits and 21 runs during their two-game interleague series at Citizens Bank Park, but isn't it nice that Zach Eflin battled his way through six respectable innings? Yes, slumping third baseman Maikel Franco, with his batting average back down to .207, did not start Wednesday, but isn't it lovely that Aaron Altherr hit two more home runs?
No, it's not nice and it's not lovely because the Phillies lost, 11-6, to the Seattle Mariners and sank to a season-worst six games under .500. That's unacceptable regardless of the degree of difficulty the schedule makers contributed to the recent nosedive.
Pete Mackanin opted to look at the glass as half full, focusing entirely on the positive in his opening statement after the game.
"That Seattle team, they can hit," the Phillies manager said. "Hate to lose, but we did score six runs today. We had the bases loaded in the eighth and a threat in the ninth after scoring nine runs [Tuesday]. That part of it looks like it's picking up a little bit."
Mackanin complimented Eflin for getting through six innings on a day when he did not have his best stuff and there has been plenty to like about the five starts the 23-year-old righthander has made since replacing Clay Buchholz in the rotation.
"I'd like to talk about Altherr," Mackanin said. "How about this guy? He's relentless right now. He's swinging the bat as well as I've seen anybody swing the bat. Tommy Joseph, three hits. A home run. Knapp was on base three times."
Enough already.
The elephant in the ballpark was once again the Phillies bullpen, a perceived strength coming into the season that has become a glaring weakness.
Mackanin handed the ball to veteran Joaquin Benoit in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday and watched the game implode. Benoit faced seven hitters and retired only one, with the most crushing blow coming from Carlos Ruiz, a three-run double off the wall in left-center. At least the crowd got to let out one final "Choooooch."
Edubray Ramos came on and walked in a run and Jake Thompson gave up three more in the eighth before being optioned back to triple-A Lehigh Valley after the game. A different arm will be in the 'pen Friday for the start of the series in Washington.
The bullpen ERA jumped from 4.64 to 5.18 in the two-game series with Seattle, and the Phillies were tied for the major-league lead with eight blown saves before Wednesday. Who's Mackanin's closer? Who knows?
It was Jeanmar Gomez at the start of the season, but not after the season-opening series in Cincinnati. And it was Benoit until he gave up a walk-off blast to Bryce Harper last month in D.C. And it seems to be Hector Neris right now. Nobody has done the job well. The team ERA in the ninth inning or later is 5.34 and there have been a lot of disturbing late-game losses to vouch for that statistic.
Benoit griped about a lack of roles for the relievers after the loss to the Mariners.
"I believe if we have a set role, everybody will fall in place," he said. "I believe it would be better if everybody knows what their role is and when you're going to contribute. If it's the sixth, well, that person will throw the sixth. If it's the ninth, that person will throw the ninth.
"One day I'm seventh. I've started in the sixth. I've been in the ninth, the eighth. Right now I'm all over the place. It's a little bit [inconsistency] and not just the pitching staff, but the people that run it, too."
Mackanin admitted he has not been able to slot his relievers the way he'd like, blaming it partly on the inability to get his starters deeper into the game.
"I still believe in these relief pitchers," the manager said. "I know we're better than we've shown. I think we need to get into a rhythm or an alignment. We need the starters to give us more innings, then we can really put together a nice bullpen."
Perhaps, but for the time being all the Phillies have is a lousy baseball team and a battered bullpen. Those negatives cannot be camouflaged by a recent rash of home runs from Aaron Altherr.
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