Phillies suffer 10th loss in 12 games as Taijuan Walker, bullpen struggle vs. Cubs
Walker and Joe Ross gave up five runs after the Phillies took a one-run lead into the sixth inning.
It’s one thing for Phillies officials to say they think longtime starter Taijuan Walker can help solidify a shorthanded group of relievers.
But there’s only one way to know for sure.
So, when the bullpen door opened before the sixth inning Tuesday night, it was Walker who stepped out onto the outfield grass and jogged into a game in which the Phillies were leading by one run.
Four batters later, the lead was gone.
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Walker threw a total of only 13 pitches. One, a cutter to Ian Happ, wasn’t exactly where he wanted it. Happ hit a go-ahead two-run homer, and well, that was the end of that in an 8-4 loss to the Cubs in Citizens Bank Park.
“It wasn’t a terrible pitch, but it wasn’t the location it was supposed to be in,” Walker said after the Phillies’ 10th loss in 12 games. “It was supposed to be up a little bit more.”
That’s life as a reliever. Sometimes, one mislocated pitch is all you get. And so, 30 minutes after the final out, more than an hour after giving up Happ’s second homer of the game, Walker sat at his locker in full uniform and stewed.
Sure, there were other reasons for the latest loss, which left the Phillies (38-29) five games out of first place, their largest deficit in the National League East since April 26.
Rookie starter Mick Abel allowed three solo home runs and lasted only four innings. Eight of the Phillies’ 10 hits were singles, and only two came with runners in scoring position. They had only two hits after the fifth inning. Brandon Marsh exited after hyperextending his left elbow on a slide in the fifth inning.
But the Phillies grabbed a 4-3 lead on Alec Bohm’s two-run single in the fourth and turned it over to Walker, who was making only his third appearance since being moved back to the bullpen 10 days ago to occupy a higher-leverage role. He tossed a scoreless inning in each of the previous two outings, an encouraging sign for a team that is looking for late-inning help.
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It’s too soon, though, to tell if this is going to work. Walker has made only 13 relief appearances in 13 major league seasons. He’s still searching for a routine that will enable his arm to bounce back more quickly. Maybe he’ll find one. Maybe not.
Either way, is he enjoying the challenge of a new role?
“I mean, I’m accepting the challenge,” Walker said. “So, yeah, I’m going to go out there and do the best I can and compete and do what’s needed, I guess, and kind of just go from there.”
Walker began the sixth inning by getting Nico Hoerner to foul out. Matt Shaw singled to left field before Walker got Reese McGuire to roll over a grounder. But the Phillies were unable to turn a double play, settling for the out at second base.
The third pitch to Happ was off the plate but belt-high. A little higher, maybe Happ swings and misses. Instead, he launched it into the right-field bleachers.
Walker struck out Kyle Tucker to finish the inning, but the damage was already done.
“Usually, you can just wipe it off and get the next inning and the next inning after that and kind of learn from that,” Walker said. “If I knew I was pitching tomorrow, maybe I could clean it earlier. But I don’t know. It’s frustrating. I guess it’s something new to me.”
OK, let’s be clear: Walker still wants to start. At age 32, he believes he can still help a rotation. But he also had a 7.10 ERA last season, the highest by a Phillies pitcher who threw 80 innings in a season since 1930.
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And Walker is making $18 million this year and next. So, the starter-rich Phillies have every reason to find out if he can help in the bullpen, even after learning earlier in the day that the soreness in Aaron Nola’s right side is being caused by a stress reaction in one of his ribs.
In related news, Abel’s importance is amplified.
With Nola’s nearly monthlong absence now extended by several weeks and the Phillies committed to seeing Walker as a reliever, Abel will get a longer look in the rotation. It’s a chance for the 23-year-old righty to begin making the impact that the Phillies imagined five years ago when they drafted him in the first round out of high school.
Abel’s third major league start didn’t measure up to the previous two. He allowed three homers — all solos — to Dansby Swanson in the second inning, Happ in the third, and Michael Busch in the fourth. And he struggled with command after not issuing a walk in his first two starts.
Busch smashed a fastball into the visiting bullpen to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead before Abel loaded the bases on two singles and a two-out walk. With the game at risk of being busted open like a piñata, the Phillies’ bullpen stirred.
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But Abel struck out dangerous Tucker on his 30th pitch of the inning, an elevated curveball, and held the deficit to one run.
“Those types of moments, I put myself into them, and it’s like, all right, I’ve got to kind of pick myself up and get back out of them,” Abel said. “It all comes down to a matter of execution. I didn’t execute a couple of pitches, and they got me good.”