CINCINNATI — Kyle Schwarber got a good pitch (94-mph fastball) in a desirable location (over the heart of the plate) in the perfect situation (bases loaded).
He just missed it.
Say this for Thursday night’s game between the Phillies and Reds: It came down to a handful of pitches. If, for instance, Bailey Falter gets Spencer Steer to whiff at a two-strike change-up rather than foul it off in the third inning, maybe things turn out differently.
But no single pitch in the Phillies’ 6-2 series-opening loss loomed larger than the hittable heater from Reds starter Nick Lodolo to Schwarber in the second inning. The Phillies loaded the bases on two singles and a walk and had the tough, young Cincinnati lefty on the ropes.
As Schwarber walked to the plate with the score tied at 1-1, Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson went to the mound. Schwarber got ahead in the count, 1-0 and then 2-1. Then, Lodolo left a fastball in the middle of the plate, and Schwarber scorched it.
Into the ground.
Schwarber’s worm-burner ended up as a groundout to first. The rally was over. The Reds scored three runs in the third inning on four consecutive singles against Falter. The Phillies fell to 4-9, their worst 13-game start since the 99-loss 2015 season.
But it was the lost opportunity against Lodolo that served as a microcosm of the game. The Phillies went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base, amplifying a recurring problem.
In the last three games, they are 4 for 30 with runners on second or third base. Overall, they are 29 for 118 in those situations — and nine of the hits came in one game, a 15-3 rout of the Marlins at home Monday night.
Otherwise, the Phillies have come up small in big spots.
It happened often in the first two innings against Lodolo. Nick Castellanos opened a 1-0 lead by jumping on a first-pitch fastball from Lodolo and rifling it to left field for an RBI single in the first inning. But with a chance for a big inning, J.T. Realmuto grounded into a fielder’s choice and Alec Bohm flew to right field.
After Schwarber left the bases loaded in the second inning, the Phillies wasted a leadoff double by Edmundo Sosa in the fourth. Schwarber homered to lead off the fifth inning to draw the Phillies to within 4-2, but Bohm grounded into a rally-stymying double play.
Rinse, repeat.
The Reds, meanwhile, took advantage of their chances against Falter. Jonathan India manufactured a game-tying run in the first inning by ripping a leadoff double, stealing third, and scoring when Sosa couldn’t keep Realmuto’s throw from skipping into left field.
In the third, Falter couldn’t put away Steer with his fastball or change-up. Steer fouled off both pitches, then singled to left field to drive in the go-ahead run. Stuart Fairchild followed by laying off a curveball in the dirt and hitting a change-up for an RBI single to open a 3-1 lead.
Tyler Stephenson and Wil Myers followed with singles, and the Reds had a 4-1 edge.
Schwarber right vs. left
Schwarber did get to Lodolo later in the game, going where no left-handed hitter had ever gone before against the Reds lefty. Schwarber hit the first homer by a lefty in Lodolo’s major league career, a 438-foot shot that nearly hit an advertisement in right-center field.
