Neris implodes again, McCutchen leaves early

PHILADEPHIA The positives, from a Phillies perspective, in the ninth inning Sunday:

1. At least there was no rain delay.

2. Andrew Knapp warms up quickly.

3. End of list.

Any game that finishes with Knapp on the mound generally isn’t one to be remembered. Had Sunday’s 11-1 loss to the San Diego Padres merely been such a mess, that would’ve been regrettable if acceptable.

But it also featured another implosion by Hector Neris with absolutely zero pressure. And it included Andrew McCutchen leaving the field with tightness in his oblique after chasing a three-run double that Eric Hosmer clubbed off Neris in a rainy, six-run ninth.

Manager Joe Girardi didn’t have anything definitive to say

about McCutchen’s status.

“We’ll have to reevaluate,” he said. “I didn’t have much time to talk to him. It looks like his oblique tightened up, and he wanted to get out before it got bad.”

It’s bad timing for McCutchen, who since bottoming out with .198 average in late May is hitting .291 with six homers in his last 28 games. It also comes just as Jean Segura and Didi Gregorius return from injuries. That longawaited chance at a full lineup might have to wait another few days, possibly through the All-Star Break.

Then there’s Neris, whose ERA inflated to 5.17. He was one pitch from an immaculate inning, a ninepitch, three-strikeout feat that has been done barely 100 times in MLB history. Instead, a borderline call went against him, leading to four straight balls to CJ Cronenworth. As the rain pelted down, the floodgates opened. Hosmer poked a double down the line to score three, then rookie catcher Webster Rivas belted a two-run homer.

Nine pitches for three outs quickly devolved into 34 pitches for two outs an unsightly six spot.

“He was close to having a great inning. So close,” Girardi said. “And I’m sure he got frustrated because he’s trying to turn his season around. You look at the first two hitters, he threw really well.”

NOTES >> J.T. Realmuto and Zack Wheeler were named to the All-Star Game Sunday. It’s the catcher’s fourth All-Star Game appearance, three as a Phillie. He scored the team’s only run with a solo homer Sunday. The 31-year-old Wheeler is in his first All-Star Games. He’s gone 6-4 with a 2.05 ERA as the Phillies rotation workhorse this year. He leads MLB with 139 strikeouts.