Jake Burger homered in the fourth straight game, Valente Bellozo gave up four hits in seven innings and the 75-loss Miami Marlins kept the Philadelphia Phillies in a summer swoon that has cost them the best record in baseball with a 5-0 victory on Tuesday night.
After spending much of the first three months of the season as the winningest team in baseball, the Phillies’ brutal stretch since June has raised serious concerns headed into the stretch run about a serious shot at winning a World Series championship.
Taijuan Walker (3-4) allowed three runs and walked three over four innings in his first start since June 21.
Walker, who turned 32 on Tuesday, wasn’t expected to pitch deep into the game in his return from right index finger inflammation. The veteran right-hander struggled with command and threw 34 pitches in the first inning. He walked Burger and Jesús Sánchez on a combined 10 pitches in the first, and threw a ball to Jonah Bride before catcher J.T. Realmuto hit the mound for a chat.
Walker then threw a strike — bringing a mocking cheer from the crowd — before Bride ripped an RBI single. Otto Lopez added a run-scoring single, unleashing a torrent of boos in the ballpark.
Wins or losses, Phillies fans the last two seasons had gone against the grain of their century-old reputation as a notoriously tough crowd and turned Citizens Bank Park one of the top home fields in baseball.
Against the Marlins, 42,846 restless fans were fed up.
They booed Walker. They booed each squandered at-bat against Bellozo (2-1) and two relievers, who tossed four-hit ball.
They booed when Burger hit his 23rd homer of the season and 13th since the All-Star break in the third.
They booed in the fourth when Bellozo retired Realmuto on a shallow fly to right to end the inning and leave runners stranded on second and third base.
They unloaded in the seventh when Realmuto’s wild throw to third allowed Xavier Edwards to score and even the stragglers let the Phillies have it when Sánchez went deep in the ninth to make it 5-0.
The Fightin’ Phils opened with the best 50-game start in baseball since the 2001 Seattle Mariners. The Fizzlin’ Phils returned from a 4-6 road trip to lose for the 16th time in 23 games since the All-Star break. They are 24-31 since June 9 and no longer boast the best record in baseball or National League. One consolation prize, the Phillies still had a seven-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East, entering Tuesday’s game.
At this losing clip, who knows if the Phillies can keep that cushion?
Bellozo struck out four and walked one.
The Phillies hoped Walker — who had a 5.60 ERA over his first 10 starts — would be sharp enough in his return that they could turn to a six-man starting rotation down the stretch.
“He can be a force when he’s on,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before the game. “We saw that for a period of time last year. Hopefully, we get that back. Early in the year, he really didn’t have his good stuff. He was giving us five innings just on guts.”
Trainer’s room
Marlins right fielder Vidal Bruján left the game with a sprained right shoulder after he made a diving catch into foul territory on Trea Turner’s flyball to end the third inning.
Next up
The Marlins send RHP Edward Cabrera (2-3, 5.20 ERA) to the mound against Phillies RHP Tyler Phillips (4-1, 4.83 ERA).
