Andrew Painter sat on a bench in the dugout during the fifth inning, staring straight ahead as another lead — and another game — slipped away into the South Philly night.
The Phillies had every reason to want to escape. After a 4-2 loss on Sunday night that concluded a 2-7 homestand and left them five games below .500 for the first time since June 2023, they boarded a Delta charter (Southwest, with its “Wanna Get Away” slogan, would have been more fitting) to Chicago.
But not before the fans gave them a taste of their frustration. The boos were loud and clear.
The team has elite speed at both the top and bottom of the order, and this could be crucial for an offense that has struggled to find consistency.
This kind of situation has become all too familiar — not just over the weekend, when the Phillies (8-13) were swept by the Braves in a three-game series at home for the first time since 2016.
The Phillies have now dropped four of their last five series at Citizens Bank Park, a stark contrast to last season when they only lost three home series. The last time they won just once in their first five series at home was in 2013.
Another growing trend: empty innings.
Kyle Schwarber gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead with a first-inning home run. But after that, the offense went quiet. They barely mounted any real threat until the ninth inning. With two runners on and two outs, Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Braves made a diving catch on Schwarber’s drive toward the right-field corner.
The only other real chance came in the fifth inning, but Austin Riley of the Braves snuffed out a two-on, two-out opportunity with a backhand play on Bryce Harper’s chopper.
The Braves overcame a 2-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth inning against Painter and lefty reliever Tim Mayza.
Felix Reyes’ addition could mean more time in left field for Kyle Schwarber.
After Painter gave up back-to-back singles to Michael Harris II and Acuña, Mayza came on and walked Drake Baldwin. Matt Olson drove in the tying run on a fielder’s choice before Riley knocked in the go-ahead run by beating out a chopper in front of Alec Bohm at third base. Ozzie Albies followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2.
The game started amid a rain shower and 13-mph gusts that whipped the flags but barely affected Painter, who retired the side on 16 pitches.
And once the rain stopped, Schwarber brought thunder.
Schwarber hit his team-leading seventh homer, a two-run shot against Braves starter Grant Holmes. The ball hit off the hands of a fan hanging over the front row of the bleachers in right field. A replay review confirmed that the fan didn’t interfere before it cleared the wall.
But the offense went missing after that, and the Phillies lost again at home — two familiar patterns through the first three weeks of the season.
