Losing To Inferior Teams Is Something The Phillies Can’t Afford

The Phillies finished their homestand by falling flat on their faces against the Houston Astros, getting swept by one of the worst teams in the National League. In the process, the Phillies missed on opportunities to gain valuable ground on the Atlanta Braves in the division. They’re lucky they aren’t 4 or 5 games back.

The returns of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley were supposed to put the Phillies offense at full power, and put the team in position to secure a playoff spot in the final weeks of the regular season.

Instead, Utley and Howard have both looked lost at the plate, and the offense looks like it has returned to the pitiful state it was in for the first half of summer. It may just be a matter of the two players needing to see some at bats to get back into the flow, but while the Phillies continue to wait for their stars to produce, the offense is suffering.

Having multiple players in the heart of the order being non-factors really drags down the rest of the lineup. Add in that other underperforming players like Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth and you’re going to get see results like the Phillies have had in the last week.

Now after getting swept at home by the lowly Astros, the Phillies have put themselves in a bad position as August winds down. A west coast trip by itself is difficult, and in the next week, they’ll travel out west for games against a couple of tough teams in the Padres and Dodgers. The Dodgers won’t be a playoff team this year, but they certainly aren’t push overs.

Losing a long series to a poor team really hurts, and it isn’t the first time it has happened this year. Look back to when this team lost three of four games to Pittsburgh, and three of four to Chicago. With the losses from this series with the Astros, the Phillies record in those three series against three of the National League’s worst teams is 2-10.  If the Phillies had been able to just play .500 in those three series, they would be in 1st place in the National League East by a game.

Its been a frustrating, up and down regular season for the Phillies. Its to this team’s credit that they haven’t once given up, and that they’ve kept themselves afloat and within a reasonable distance of 1st place and the Wild Card. However, its quickly getting to the point where staying afloat isn’t good enough. This team needs to make its move soon if its to get a firm grip on a playoff spot. Losing four straight to a team like the Astros is inexcusable, and the Phillies can’t afford room for much more error.