The David vs. Goliath affair in Philly ended on Sunday, with the Philadelphia Phillies getting another humble pie to the pace after getting beat by the Oakland Athletics in the series finale to the tune of a wild 18-3 score.
Trea Turner, who had a great individual in the loss, simply admitted the truth about the Phillies' final game in the first half of the 2024 MLB regular season.
“We just got our butts kicked today, but it was a good first half,” Turner said following the embarrassing defeat at the hands of one of the worst teams in the big leagues this campaign, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).
Turner put the Phillies ahead early with a solo home run in the first inning before the Athletics answered that with seven unanswered runs from the fourth to the sixth frame.
Oakland teed off on Philadelphia's pitching, with the A's smoking eight total home runs in the contest, including the one second baseman Zack Gelof hit in the ninth inning that cleared the bases for a grand slam off of Philadelphia catcher Garrett Stubbs.
Joey Estes got the pitching win for the Athletics, allowing just two earned runs on four hits while striking out five Philadelphia hitters in six innings of work. Meanwhile, Michael Mercado took the loss for Philly, having allowed six earned runs on five hits in four innings of duty on the mound.
The Athletics won the first game of the series, 6-2 before the Phillies rebounded in the second leg with an 11-5 victory.
Fans react to wild Phillies-Athletics series conclusion
“The Phillies lost 18-3? I had to double check this score,” said @callme_Chari.
“Phillies lose to Oakland 18-3. Stabler was on his game,” joked @ebcinpa.
“18-3. Losing 2 of 3 at home to one of the worst teams in baseball. Completely unacceptable but par for the course with this Phillies team. They simply lack a winners mentality that was on full display vs some scrubs at home in the NLCS via Games 6 n 7. Terrible,” shared an angry @PhillyHotspur.
“phillies thinking they winning the division after getting blown out & losing a series to the A’s 🤣🤣,” commented @TezFrm901.
Meanwhile, @2008Philz used a Mad Men reference to express his true feelings about the game.
From Mad Men to Batman. Here's another reaction from @MarioEmmet.
“What the heck was that? I hope the organization is going to make some moves before the trade deadline. I should have saw them losing this series coming after sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s all I got.”
Phillies head to MLB All-Star break comfortably atop the NL East standings
Despite the shocking series loss to the Athletics, the Phillies are still well ahead of their rivals in the National League East division. Philadelphia dropped to 62-34 — 8.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves and 12.5 games in front of the New York Mets. In addition, Turner and the Phillies are leading the entire NL by 6.5 games.
While it did not reflect in the Athletics series, the Phillies have been feeding off their strong pitching this season, finishing the first half second in the big leagues with a 3.41 ERA and second as well in terms of WHIP (1.15). Offensively, the Phillies are tied with the New York Yankees for third in the MLB with a .755 OPS.
Philly will return to action on July 19 when it kicks off a three-game series on the road versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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