5 Phillies to blame for wasting Jesús Luzardo's Game 2 gem

The Philadelphia Phillies' season is on the brink after another muted postseason effort from the offense. Blake Snell deserves a ton of credit for pounding the zone and locating every pitch for six-plus innings, in which he struck out nine and allowed only one hit, but it's impossible to excuse Philadelphia's offense for what is now an extended trend.

Going back to the end of the 2023 postseason, Philadelphia has only scored more than three runs once — in a 7-6 walkoff victory over the Mets in Game 2 of the 2024 NLDS, exactly one year ago Monday. We know this lineup has plenty of firepower: some of the biggest names in baseball, and MVP candidates past and present. But for one reason or another, this Phillies lineup has gone M.I.A. for two Octobers in a row. And now, down 0-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers buzzsaw, the Phillies' season feels all but over.

It stings even more because Jesús Luzardo pitched an absolute gem in the biggest start of his career, stretching six-plus innings with five strikeouts. He only allowed one hit in the first six frames, but gave up back-to-back singles to open the seventh and Philadelphia's bullpen couldn't stop the bleeding. Luzardo retired 17 straight Dodgers at one point. It was a masterful performance from an pitcher whose track record is far from consistent. But the Phillies wasted it, just like they wasted 5.2 great innings from Cristopher Sánchez in Game 1.

Here's who we are blaming for this embarrassment.

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RHP Orion Kerkering

If there's a pitcher to blame, it's Orion Kerkering, who gave up two additional earned runs on top of the two baserunners he inherited from Jesús Luzardo in the seventh. Kerkering finished the regular season strong and put together a 10-pitch inning in Game 1, but the 24-year-old just couldn't slam the door against the top of this Dodgers lineup.

It's hard to blame him in full, of course. He was put in a tough spot and the Phillies' pitchers got zero run support, zero breathing room. But Kerkering had a chance to salvage things and keep the Phillies within striking distance as L.A. transitioned to its bullpen. He was unable to.

3B Alec Bohm

Alec Bohm was red-hot toward the end of the regular season, which earned him the cleanup spot in the NLDS lineup. While there has been intense scrutiny directed at the big three of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper — and rightfully so at a combined 2-21 for the series — Bohm came up small, too.

Philadelphia's best opportunity to flip the script was in the bottom of the sixth, with the score still knotted at zero. Turner and Schwarber both walked to put two runners on base. Bohm stepped up to the plate with two outs and grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

To his credit, Bohm came through with a leadoff single and a run scored in the ninth as the Phillies attempted their last-second mad dash to the finish line. Bohm is probably better than his reputation suggests and he is capable of some timely swings, but too often he falls short when the Phillies need it most. The outcome of this game is probably different if Bohm delivers in the sixth.

SS Trea Turner

Trea Turner walked and stole a base in the sixth inning, giving the Phillies a runner in scoring position with just one out. Philadelphia stranded him. Then Turner came through with a one-out RBI single in the eighth after a pinch-hit triple from Max Kepler, which gave the Phillies life — and a chance to make things interesting in the ninth.

Considering all that Turner battled through to reach this point, effectively missing the final month of the regular season due to injury, it's hard to sit here and earnestly criticize him for a productive and at times gutsy performance. He legged out that stolen base on a hamstring that's less than 100 percent. Credit where it's due. Nobody is coming away from this game upset with Turner.

That said, he does share part of the blame for this loss. With runners on the corners and two outs in the ninth inning, the tying run 90 feet from home plate, Turner hit a grounder right to Tommy Edman at second base to end the game and cut Philly's comeback bid short. Perhaps even worse, however, was Turner's off-target throw on a play at the plate in the seventh inning.

Teoscar Hernández represented the tying run at third. Kiké Hernández squeaked a grounder to shortstop. Turner had Teoscar dead in the water at home plate, but the throw was just off line and JT Realmuto couldn't swing the tag over on time. Rather than two outs and zero runs in, the Phillies had one out, two runners on, and trailed 1-0. From there, L.A.'s offense took control.

That is an incredibly difficult throw to make in the moment and Turner, again, put himself in a position to score twice (and came through with an RBI knock). He did more than most Phillies in Game 2. Still, when we look back on this loss, you can't nitpick the Phillies without focusing on Turner's mistakes.

DH Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber is now 0-for-7 with five strikeouts and a walk through two games in the NLDS. Just unaccpetable all around. It reached the point where the hometown crowd was booing Schwarber — their beloved MVP candidate and Philadelphia's most prized upcoming free agent. That shows how ruthless Phillies fans are and just how abominable Schwarber's performance thus far has been.

Schwarber is 0-for-17 over his last five games dating back to the regular season, so this slump has been gestating for a while now. It's incredibly frustrating to watch, as Schwarber has done so much to improve his approach and elevate his average during this historically productive campaign. He hit 56 home runs in the regular season and was the driving force for an offense that too often went cold around him. Now the bottom of the lineup is at least scrapping their way on base, but Schwarber is consistently leaving them stranded in big spots.

The most painful at-bat for Schwarber came in the eighth, with a speedy runner on first base in Turner and only one out. He went up in the count 2-0 against Emmett Sheehan, an eminently hittable "reliever," and then took a fastball and a slider down the gullet without swinging before foul-tipping a high-middle fastball into Will Smith's glove for strike three.

If the Phillies want to at least make this series competitive, Schwarber needs to lock in on the flight to Los Angeles.

1B Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper is one of the truly great postseason performers of his generation. He entered Monday's game with a career 1.006 OPS on that stage. That said, this is now two straight Phillies playoff runs in which Harper just looks lost at the plate. He's way too aggressive, swinging early on pitches out of the zone and visibly attempting to turn every hack into a home run. He came up empty in Game 2, finishing 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

It's not like Harper didn't get any opportunities to deliver in Game 2. He had two on with only one out in the sixth inning when he struck out. With Turner on base and two outs in the eighth, with Phillies fans still buzzing off of the Max Kepler triple and run scored, Harper skied a pitch to centerfield and the inning was over.

What exactly is going on here? Harper put together plenty of clutch swings in the regular season. We know he relishes the moment. We know he's still a damn fine hitter. But for whatever reason, the lights seem too bright right now.

The Phillies aren't done yet. Harper can revive fans' confidence with a couple huge performances in Chávez Ravine, if he really wants to. But with the season on life support and the Phillies facing a near-impossible deficit against MLB's most talented team, Harper shoulders the majority of the blame.