The Philadelphia Phillies were on the wrong end of a 2-1 final score in Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. And if anyone was hoping for a sugar-coated recap of the game, they did not get it on Phillies Postgame Live.
At various points this year, hosts Michael Barkann and Ricky Bottalico have been particularly critical of the team after a loss. That continued on Saturday, with Bottalico coming out swinging. He was particularly frustrated with the team’s offense, or lack thereof, against Pittsburgh starter Andrew Heaney.
“Let me put it to you this way,” Botallico said. “You have Trea Turner, you have Nick Castellanos, you have Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm. You’re gonna tell me that you can’t mix together, against Mr. Heaney, you can’t get more than four hits? I think that’s a pathetic display of offense is what I think. And as a matter of fact, you go even deeper, you look at how many guys they sent up to the plate.”
Botallico then asked Barkann how many times he thought the Phillies sent only three hitters to the plate in an inning. When Barkann replied, “At least five,” Botallico corrected him.
“Six times,” he said. “You know what the most amount of hitters who showed up in an inning was? Four. Four, the whole game. That is not exactly putting a rally together.”
Saturday’s loss was Philadelphia’s fourth in a row and eighth in nine games. In three of the four losses in the current skid, the Phillies scored one run. So, the frustration in the team’s offense had probably been mounting for a few days. And we can only imagine what Bottalico will say if the team doesn’t start hitting better soon.