Schwarber fights a ball, Braves knock Phillies flat

Kyle Schwarber wasn’t so much bailing out a dutysworn official scorer as he was officially pointing a finger at himself.

Schwarber was the first Phillie to volunteer for the clubhouse critics circle after a 5-1 loss Thursday to the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. He apparently felt the need to do so.

“It’s very frustrating,” Schwarber said after his 10th inning misplay in left field helped set the stage for the Braves’ win. “It’s a play I should make, plain and simple. I don’t really know how (or) why, but I’ve got to catch it, plain and simple.”

The play came with the Braves leading 1-0 and two runners on with two outs in the extra inning, with Austin Riley floating a liner toward Schwarber. He seemed to hesitate as he closed in on the ball, then tried to backhand a catch and only succeeded in knocking the ball to the grass as the Braves made it 3-0. Then Marcell Ozuna followed with a tworun bomb to left for a 5-0 lead.

It would present the Phillies with their second loss in two games in the series, leaving them 10 full games behind the Braves in a National League East race with which the Braves are running away. It also left young reliever Yunior Marte, who is trying to create a bullpen niche with the big club, with a terrible outing in which he deserved better.

Somewhat amazingly, Schwarber’s dropped ball was called a hit by a Phillies official scorer who maybe didn’t see the replay … or knows non-error calls have been all the rage across the league for a while now. Of course, Schwarber has other things on his mind.

“It’s not on Marte, it’s not on anyone else,” Schwarber said. “The game’s on me. I’ve got to catch that ball. It’s obviously frustrating. I think if I catch it we can extend the game or we win in the 10th. “I saw it fine. I’ve got to catch it.” It wouldn’t have been such an issue had the Phillies not come up so small at the plate. While Aaron Nola pitched six scoreless innings, Atlanta’s Bryce Elder allowed only three hits over seven scoreless innings. Like Nola, that was only good for a no-decision, but Elder’s now 5-1 with a 2.40 ERA for a Braves team that looks every bit like a National League championship shoo-in.

Of course, it’s way too early to go there. Plenty of work to be done in the interim.

“There’s been some plays I haven’t made. I feel like I’ve made those plays in the past,” Schwarber said. “I’ve got to be able to make them.”

He wouldn’t be so pressured to do so if Bryce Harper weren’t coming off Tommy John surgery and Rhys Hoskins hadn’t wrecked a knee in spring training. That has created a situation in which Schwarber has to play left rather than act as designated hitter more often than is healthy for the club’s daily prospects.

“Yeah, he’s had some misplays,” manager Rob Thomson said of Schwarber. “I mean, you’re certainly not going to take 20 home runs and his on-base (percentage) out of the lineup. That’s still a plus.”

The Phillies certainly can’t take any potential home runs out of their lineup, since even with Schwarber, whose 20 dingers were fifth best in the league entering the day, they have been distinctly run of the mill in the power department. Foremost in that slippage is Harper, who hasn’t homered since May 25, or 23 games ago.

He’s had 162 at-bats since returning off the surgery on May 2. He has three home runs.

At one point Thursday, Harper had a good swing at an Elder pitch and drove it on a sharp line right to a Braves outfielder. He returned to the dugout and fired his helmet against the bench.

Although the Phillies went 13-2 before these two Braves losses, that’s how their state of mind seems to be after this Braves visit.

“Personally, I think I’ve hit a thousand baseballs at 180 mph and they’ve gone nowhere,” Harper said. “Hopefully, once July hits, the wind won’t keep blowing in and we’re not playing games where people are wearing sweatshirts in June during the game.”

Maybe a few weeks after June ends, Harper can get to where he wants to go — first base. If he shows healthy enough to pull that off with a throwing-arm elbow still far from 100 percent, that would free Schwarber to be the DH rather than the left fielder.

But until then…

“Trust me, I’m going to keep working on it,” Schwarber said. “This isn’t going to keep me from working on it. It’s not just offense to this game.”