By DAN GELSTON
PHILADELPHIA — Jake Burger homered for 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.
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 even keep that cushion?
Phillies manager Rob Thomson rarely calls team meetings over his three seasons but a clubhouse address could be on the horizon.
“Is it time to do it? It depends on a lot of things,” Thomson said. “It depends on the attitude and where I think the guys’ minds are at. I think overall they’re very solid right now. Frustrated because they know we’re better than that.”
The All-Star break splits are depressing in Philly: a .259 team batting average in the first half vs. .237 since and a 3.41 team ERA in the first half to 5.07 post-break. The Phillies had a whopping plus-110 run differential edge in the first half and are minus-25 since the break.
With sluggers slumping, it might be time to shake up the lineup.
“We’re getting close,” Thomson said.
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.
“Our fans know that we’re better than that,” Thomson said. “We have very knowledgeable fans and they let you know when you’re not playing well.”
Bellozo struck out four and walked one.
Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm — the top four hitters in the lineup — went 1 for 15.
“It’s not worry. Frustration,” Schwarber said. “I think worry is the wrong kind of word. If you’re worried about where you’re at, it’s not a good thing to be.”
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.
All they got instead was one more reason for doubt in a second-half full of dismay.
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).
