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Frustrating night at the ballyard, Phils lose 6-5 in 11 soggy innings.

Cristopher Sánchez shoved. Seven shutout innings, three-hit ball with six strikeouts. And Rob Thomson did not treat it like a must-win game, getting Sanchy out of there after 90 pitches. That is enough work for your ace, with the playoffs looming in a few weeks. And, well, you would hope that the bullpen could protect a 3-0 lead.

Welp.

The bullpen imploded. For the most part, the formula with David Robertson was simple: Give him at least a day off. Robertson has a 13.50 ERA when forced to pitch on back-to-back days, but he had been lights-out when given at least one day off. The man clearly understood that he only has so many bullets left to fire, not showing up at all until August.

Well, until last night that is. Basically with a full week off, Robertson gave up another September home run to a Conine playing for the Marlins. As frustrating as last night was, this one was not nearly as scarring as the previous ones that ruined my childhood. And then another unearned run crossed the plate.

Still, Jhoan Duran came out to the Durantula entrance with a one-run lead. But the problem with 101 miles per hour is that, in the modern-day MLB, hitters can sometimes catch up to it if you do not locate it. And this one was put on a tee.

Duran has 15 saves and 3 blown saves with the Phils. Would have been nice for him to get this one, especially because there was an additional one-hour rain delay because of it. The Phils were punished in multiple ways for their leaky bullpen. Oh well.

But the guy I am most worried about is Orion Kerkering. His command is not just there right now. And Kerkering, after a leadoff walk, allowed the ghost runner and a runner of his own to score in the 10th inning. Not good enough from him over the last few months.

Now, does this game actually matter? It was an extremely stupid loss, but in the standings, not really. The Dodgers lost, and the Phillies’ magic number is down to one with five games left.

But you do want the bullpen looking sharper and the bats to heat up again heading into October. Three losses in a row, let’s put an end to that tonight.

Two silver linings: From the tough loss…

CJGJ gets released: In what qualifies as a “surprising, but not completely stunning” move, Houston cut C.J. Gardner-Johnson yesterday. Three games, and like Mr. Wonderful on a bad Shark Tank pitch, DeMeco Ryans was out.

Why surprising? Well, the Texans restructured CJGJ’s contract for this season into a signing bonus just three weeks ago. Why not stunning? As has been the case with CJGJ in the past, the off-field dynamic sounds, um, interesting.

It’s unclear if the Eagles could sign CJGJ (maybe not?), the NFL CBA is quite confusing. All of Eagles Twitter, Reddit and Facebook is currently arguing about whether or not a vested veteran who immediately becomes a free agent is the equivalent of clearing waivers under the reacquisition rules. My head hurt typing out that sentence, so I will let someone else sort that out should the Eagles cross that bridge.

Now, should they cross that bridge? Bo and EJ talked about it here on yesterday’s Eagles show (and on a mini-pod after). EJ mentioned that CJGJ still has “fans in that building” but I would vote no, for two main reasons that are not locker-room related. I think the Eagles locker room has proven that it can handle CJGJ.

Anyway, I am not here to pile on Super Bowl Champion C.J. Gardner-Johnson. “Breathe in on 3!” was a highlight of my year. But yeah, CJGJ not faring well in an 0-3 locker room is not all that surprising.

When that trade initially went down, both sides had high hopes: OK, the Texans got a starting safety and the Eagles got a former first-rounder that will enroll in Stoutland U. Fast-forward to Week 3 and neither guy is on a team. The Eagles waived Kenyon Green for a kick returner the other day. But the lesson, dear reader, is that even in a bad trade for both teams, it is still very much #HowieSZN.

Speaking of kick returns…

Michael Clay and The Knuckler: Most weeks on Wednesday, we focus in on Kevin Patullo and Vic Fangio. Not this week, though. I feel like I have written enough about Patullo and Uncle Vic was less interesting than usual.

So, what are we focusing on this week? That’s right, SPECIAL TEAMS.

In the moment, watching Tank Bigsby and John Metchie struggle to handle every Rams kickoff was frustrating. But while Josh Karty did not fare so hot on field goals, the end zone angle on some of those knuckle balls was pretty sick.

(Joe Davis calling Jason Varitek the guy who caught Tim Wakefield’s knuckleballs was a huge mistake, by the way. Varitek specifically could not catch Wakefield’s knuckleballs. C’mon Joe, you are the voice of the World Series!)

Michael Clay will earn his money trying to figure out how to handle those kicks. He compared it to “being a shortstop,” but shortstops have mitts and the ball they are catching is round… and not oblong-shaped, with the propensity to bounce in every single direction. That looked legitimately tough!

And oh yeah, the kick returner the Eagles signed is Xavier Gipson, formerly of the Jets and Giants.

Montreal 4, Flyers 2: Love to have Charlie’s recaps back. Do not love to have subpar Sam Ersson goaltending back, but hey, you take the good with the bad.

Zack Wheeler: Let’s start with some good news, Wheeler had successful thoracic outlet decompression surgery yesterday.

Robot umps! In a limited sense, that is. MLB has approved the ABS (automated ball-strike) system for 2026. A refresher on the rules…

We will see how it looks in practice, but from afar, I think that is a fair balancing act. You just want the C.B. Bucknor and Angel Hernandez Specials out of the game. You know, a “ball” that catches the entire plate and a “strike” that is two balls off the plate. Last week in Los Angeles, for example, J.T. Realmuto would have tapped his helmet on an egregious missed Strike 3 call to Max Muncy and clinched the NL East on a challenge.

Tyler Phillips is a lunatic, Volume 2,439: Tyler Phillips is truly the Philly sicko that got away. The South Jersey native, whose friends lit couches on fire at Eagles tailgates (who among us hasn’t?), has reinvented himself as a reliever this year in Miami. And more importantly, he has also taken his intense persona to a whole different level. Cursing at hitters. Slapping himself before walking in from the bullpen. You know, nice and calm behavior.

Well, last night Alec Bohm smoked a ball at Phillips that Phillips caught for the third out of the inning. And walking off, Phillips was so wired that he threw a ball behind the back in Bohm’s general direction. A grounder, sure, but a grounder with some heat on it.

Bohm was perfectly within his rights to be confused and even a little irritated. But man, and you might reasonably disagree with me, but I love Tyler Phillips. The crazy guy that got away. One of us.

Quentin Grimes: No news, but I am pretty stunned this thing has dragged all the way out until September 23rd… especially because the sides are not airing it out in the media like we are seeing in Golden State with Jonathan Kuminga.

Hey Quentin, the team is practicing on Saturday buddy!

September is Big Brothers Big Sisters of America Month! PHLY and ALLCITY is proud to support their mission, and we’re raising money all month long. You can donate — or even learn more about becoming a Big — at bbbs.org/allcity

Game 2 of Phillies-Marlins, Jesús Luzardo gets the ball against his old team (6:45 p.m., NBC Sports Philly).

Your tentative Wednesday schedule at ​PHLY. Busy day​:

Let’s make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
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