Bryce Harper-less Phillies get walked off by the Pirates, lose for seventh time in eight games

PITTSBURGH — Jordan Romano bent at the waist and stood over the ball.

“No,” he said later. “I’ve never had a bunt like that.”

And the Phillies haven’t had a week like this. Not in a long while. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are both absent from the rotation. Bryce Harper is in the training room rather than at first base because of a sore wrist.

These dystopic Phillies, without the pillars of their roster, opened a weekend series Friday night against the Pirates by running a bullpen game and patching together a lineup. A break or two along the way would have been helpful.

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Instead, they were done in by two bloop singles, a 35-foot spinning bunt that was going foul until it made a right turn and hugged the third-base line, and a sacrifice fly — all in the ninth inning against Romano — in a 5-4 walk-off loss.

“We just got to keep grinding, man,” manager Rob Thomson said after the Phillies (37-26) lost for the seventh time in eight games and remained two games off the pace in the NL East. “We’re in a little bit of a funk right now. Just got to keep fighting through it.”

Romano took it especially hard, even if he yielded only soft contact. But there was plenty of room on the blame train.

Start with the bats. The Phillies didn’t have a hit after the fifth inning and were muted by Pirates relievers Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana, and David Bednar. Trea Turner had three hits, including a two-run single to open up a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning, but lamented a sixth-inning groundout that stranded a runner on second base.

“They’ve got some good arms, especially at the back end, and made it tough on us,” Turner said. “But we’ve got to find a way to create some momentum. You’ve got to come through when those opportunities present themselves.”

Outfield defense continues to be spotty, too. The Pirates’ winning rally began with back-to-back singles, including a flare that fell in front of center fielder Brandon Marsh.

“He got a little late break on it,” Thomson said.

With runners on first and second, Isiah Kiner-Falefa put down a bunt along the third-base line. The ball spun and skidded, and the Phillies thought for sure it would roll foul.

“It was like almost all the way foul,” Romano said, “and just kind of came right back.”

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Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Nick Gonzales hit a fly ball to left field. Max Kepler drifted back to catch it, but there wasn’t much point. Adam Frazier trotted home to score the winning run.

Not much Romano could do about that.

“But like, bottom line, it’s got to be better, right?” said Romano, whose ERA stands at 7.71. “Got to pitch better. A little bad luck, but that’s baseball. Other guys are getting through it. I’m not. Team’s scuffling a little bit and [I] need to step up. It didn’t happen.”

Without Wheeler (paternity leave) and Nola (sprained ankle), the Phillies ran a bullpen game, parading six relievers to the mound after rain delayed the start of the game by 83 minutes.

Joe Ross, making his first start since last July, went two innings before Tanner Banks pitched the third. The relay race continued with Alan Rangel inheriting a two-run lead in the fourth.

It was a big spot for Rangel’s major league debut, but the Phillies didn’t have much choice. Not after Jesús Luzardo’s 2⅓-inning stinker Thursday in Toronto forced them to use starter-turned-reliever Taijuan Walker.

The Phillies called up Rangel from triple A earlier in the day to provide length. So, even though he gave up a four-pitch walk and two-run homer to the first two batters of the fourth inning, he was staying in the game.

Rangel settled after Henry Davis’ game-tying missile into the left-field bleachers, recording nine outs to keep the game tied entering the seventh inning.

“I felt nervous at first, but I think it’s just part of the process,” Rangel said through a team interpreter. “I think I could make the necessary adjustments during the second and third inning, so that made me feel better overall.”

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It would’ve been a feel-good story, but then, the Phillies haven’t had many of those lately.

“I feel like we either can go really hot or really cold,” Turner said. “Especially the veteran players and some of our young guys getting older, the consistency is kind of what we pride ourselves on, and it just hasn’t really been there. It feels like we can do everything a little bit better.

“We’ve just got to find ways to win, whatever it is — moving guys, hitting them in, playing a little better defense. I think we can all contribute a little bit more."