Phillies can’t keep it together, fall to Nats, 5-3
Phillies fall to Nationals to fall 3½ games behind Atlanta
Washington’s Trea Turner, left, follows through after connecting for an RBI single off Phillies starter Zach Eflin during the fourth inning of Monday night’s game in Philadelphia. Phillies catcher Wilson Ramos, right, looks on.
PHILADELPHIA » If you didn’t know Wilson Ramos, and since he’s new around these parts not many Phillies fans do, you could have sworn he went slower than slow as he was attempting to go from first base to third at a rather crucial point in the sixth inning Monday night.
Ramos was on first with no outs and the Phillies trailing the Washington Nationals by three runs when Asdrubal Cabrera smacked a single past first base. Ramos, never a bolt of lightning on the base paths, slowly reached second and kept going, and halfway to third seemed to slow while looking back. The long throw from Adam Eaton in right field would thus beat Ramos, and not beat him by much. The play essentially destroyed what could have been a big inning in what became a 5-3 Phillies loss at Citizens Bank Park, the flopping Phils’ seventh loss in nine games.
It was such a big play that when Ramos - who has largely been tearing the cover off the ball when given a chance to hit since his trade from Tampa Bay - next came to the plate, he was gifted with a healthy dose of Philadelphia fan language.
Just purse your lips and blow ... but did you know the guy is hurt?
“He’s playing through a lot,” manager Gabe Kapler said of Ramos, who despite two pained hamstrings is hitting .448 in seven games with the Phillies. “The guy has given us everything he has, and we talked about it before the game. We want to ride him as much as we can, but he’s also not 100 percent. I think he showed and continues to show a lot of toughness, by posting, asking for the opportunity to perform for us and then doing an admirable job.
“On that particular play, I just shared with him after the game, just stop. Go base to base. I think in hindsight he probably would have done that. Maybe in his mind he thought he would make it to third base easily. That wasn’t the case, but I think he deserves to be recognized for being especially tough.”
That was quite possible if Ramos was around right after the lengthy loss, but he was immediately unavailable. The reason, of course, was that he was getting treatment for those aching legs.
And perhaps he was letting the ringing in his ears subside, too.
“If he stops at second base, we have runners at first and second there, and are really in position to strike,” Kapler said when asked if Ramos might have been better off not hobbling around on his hammies. “That’s probably the only thing we would do differently. I don’t think we would go back in time and say, ‘Let’s not play him.’ I think we would go back in time and say, ‘Stop at second base.’”
As for the fan reaction the next time Ramos appeared at the plate in the eighth inning, Kapler ... essentially didn’t answer. At least he didn’t say anything different.
“Ramos is going through a lot right now,” the manager repeated. “He is a warrior, he’s been asking to be in the lineup and when he’s been in the lineup he’s been excellent thus far. Really proud of the toughness he displayed tonight.”
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The Phillies were once again a defensive mess in this game, officially committing only one error, but it was a nasty one when Zach Eflin fielded a squeeze bunt and flipped it nowhere in the direction of the plate, where Ramos was waiting to get a force-out.
“Picking up the ball and throwing it home, I guess I was more concerned about being hit as I was throwing it (by the runner) and therefore I didn’t even look at Ramos behind the plate,” Eflin said. “I take a lot of pride in being able to field my position and being able to throw to bases whenever I want, and that one really kind of hit home with me. I’m not happy about it. I’m actually pretty damn disappointed with myself. But, keep a chin up and move on.”
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Top Phillies minor league pitcher Sixto Sanchez has begun throwing again, according to general manager Matt Klentak.
“He’s been throwing live BPs (batting practices) and is feeling great,” Klentak said. “We’re considering next steps for him, one of which would be playing in the fall league. We haven’t decided that yet but we’re considering it.”
Sanchez, who turned 20 July 29, has been shut down for the past twoplus months with soreness in his pitching elbow. He did not have surgery and has been going through rehab in Florida. He had been mowing down batters in the Class A Florida State League prior to the injury, going 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings for Clearwater.