NEW YORK — One pitch wipes out six months of success. It’s the cruelty of 21st century baseball that rewards autumn ability over summer superiority.
Carlos Estevez crouched on the mound, put his hands on his knees and turned his head to watch over his left shoulder as Francisco Lindor sent his 2-1 fastball soaring toward right-center field. When the ball landed in Philadelphia’s bullpen for a sixth-inning grand slam that wiped out a 1-0 Phillies lead, the reliever dropped his hands and his head sank.
“I knew it right away,” Estévez said after Wednesday night’s 4-1 loss to the New York Mets ended the NL Division Series in four games and sent the Phillies home for the winter.
Sixteen years and counting without a World Series title. And in each of the last three seasons, Bryce Harper & Co. keep getting knocked out further from the trophy.
“Every loss is kind of the same, man,” Harper said. “Any time you lose and don’t finish the job of a World Series, it’s the same — if it’s the next round or the World Series round, it all feels pretty similar.”
Philadelphia reached Game 6 of the 2022 World Series before losing to Houston. It seemed to be on the verge of success with an offense anchored by Harper, Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos, and a rotation headed by Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler.
Trea Turner was added for 2023, and the Phillies took a 3-2 lead over Arizona in last year’s NL Championship Series before dropping Games 6 and 7 at home.
Then the Phillies started 46-20 this year to open a 10-game division lead and finished 95-67 to win the NL East for the first time since 2011.
“You just feel like you fail,” Turner said. “We had a fun season. We had some good memories and whatnot. But when your goal is to win the World Series and I think we talked about it plenty, it’s nothing but kind of a failure. So I don’t think it’s from lack of trying, lack of talent or who we have in the clubhouse. We just couldn’t get it done.”
There were signs of trouble heading into October. The Phillies lost eight of their last 13 games during the regular season.
“I didn’t feel like we were playing like ourselves the last couple of weeks,” Turner said.
Philadelphia batters hit .186 against the Mets, including 6 for 31 with runners in scoring position. And relievers had an 11.37 ERA, allowing 11 of 15 inherited to score.
A third championship after 1980 and 2008 remains elusive. The core could be kept together. Estévez and fellow pitchers Jeff Hoffman and Spencer Turnbull are the only players eligible for free agency.
“I don’t like losing a series. I want to win a World Series, But anything can happen in a short series,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “But I don’t see us going backwards, no.”
Turner understood the frustration of Phillies fans who had expected so much more.
“They’re wearing this this just as hard as we are,” he said.