Phillies rally falls short in loss to Red Sox

BOSTON - Ryan Howard walked to the plate in the ninth inning and Boston interim manager Torey Lovullo headed to the mound. The Phillies had scored three times on Friday night with two outs in the ninth inning.

But if they were going to keep the rally going, Howard would need to find a hit against a lefthander. Lovullo pulled righthander Jean Machi for Robbie Ross Jr.

Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin declined to pull Howard for a righthanded pinch-hitter. Three pitches later, the rally was extinguished.

Howard struck out to seal a 7-5 loss to the Red Sox.

"This is about the future. I don't know if I'll be here or not, so it's not up to me. But for me, if you're going to build a case that you should be playing every day or what have you, then you build that case," Mackanin said. "If you're making a case that you shouldn't be playing every day, then the case will be made this year."

Mackanin was asked how that related to Howard.

"Well, I'd rather not get into that," Mackanin said.

Howard has just 13 hits this season in 96 at-bats against lefthanded pitchers. Howard's case is being made toward being a platoon player. Friday night's strikeout was Howard's 38th against a lefthander. On Wednesday, Howard ended a seventh-inning rally with a double play against a lefthanded pitcher. Mackanin said after that loss that he did not pull Howard because he told him he would not pinch-hit for him.

The loss dropped the Phillies to 53-82, guaranteeing that they will finish with a losing mark for a third straight year. It is their longest stretch of losing seasons since 1994-2000.

The Phillies rallied in the ninth behind a two-run homer from Odubel Herrera and an RBI double by Aaron Altherr.

Adam Morgan allowed six runs in 61/3 innings. Morgan allowed eight hits and struck out six. He limited the damage despite not having much movement on his fastball.

Morgan's fifth pitch of the seventh inning was rocked by Jackie Bradley Jr. for a home run to center field. It was just Morgan's second homer allowed this season to a lefthanded batter. He was pulled nine pitches later after a walk and a single put runners on first and third with no outs.

Morgan's lone run support came in the fourth inning. Darnell Sweeney drove in Cesar Hernandez on a groundout to first. Darin Ruf followed with a single that sneaked past shortstop Xander Bogaerts and brought home Aaron Altherr to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

Boston tagged Morgan for two runs in the fifth. Ryan Hannigan led the inning off with a single and Bradley followed with a walk. It was Morgan's first walk allowed in 282/3 innings. Mookie Betts doubled to drive in Hannigan. Bradley scored on a sacrifice fly by Brock Holt. The Phillies' one-run lead was gone. It would be the only one that they had.

@matt_breen