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Try it freeThese Phillies analysts are worried their team might be the victim of an underdog story.
The NBC Sports Philadelphia crew entertained the idea of the Phillies possibly blowing the NL East to the Mets after Tuesday’s 6-5 loss dropped the edge to just five games.
The discussion even ventured into how Wednesday is essentially a must-win game with Philadelphia attempting to avoid a potentially season-changing three-game sweep.
“But, in our eyes, it’s fine to say this is a big game (Wednesday),” analyst Ricky Bottalico said.
“You go win tomorrow, you’re back up six. No harm, no foul, see ya later.”
The Phillies held a seven-game lead over the Mets entering this series and had a chance to bury their rivals, but Citi Field continues to be their house of horrors.
For the second straight game, they blew an early lead and this time saw trade acquisition closer Jhoan Duran allow four singles in the ninth in the walk-off loss, their ninth straight in Flushing.
Now, like the famous scene in “Jurassic Park,” the object in the rearview mirror is closer than it seems and the Mets can gain the tiebreaker with one more win in the final five games between the teams.
“Nine straight losses against the Mets, and that’s why that five-game lead, that’s all well and good, they lose one more game, they blow the tiebreaker against the Mets,” host Michael Barkann said. “Once they blow that, then the Mets get the division if the series ends up close or they end up tied at the end of the season, the Mets get the division or perhaps the Mets get into the playoffs.”
Bottalico responded: “You’re going there already?”
“Already? It’s 30 games left in the season. You kidding me?” Barkann retorted. “This team is supposed to be asserting itself now and instead it’s going belly up.”
Bottalico then conceded a little bit.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said.
Barkann replied: “I want to be wrong, believe me.”
Bottalico isn’t fully convinced the Phillies are choking — yet.
“I think you are wrong,” he said. “I think this just a little blip. I think this is one of those things where, OK, they may go into a little swoon but when the Mets play everybody else, they go into a swoon, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it.”
Fellow analyst Ben Davis then raised the importance of Wednesday’s game, featuring Taijuan Walker facing Mets rookie Nolan McLean.
“You just don’t want (the Mets) to get big ‘mo’ on their side and right now they have that momentum on their side and that’s not a good thing,” Davis said. “I agree with Michael, this is something you gotta think about with 30 games left … That tiebreaker would go to the Mets.
“They gotta right the ship tomorrow. Tomorrow — never say it’s a must win…”
Botallico interjected: “Tomorrow’s a big game.”
“You don’t ever want to go into a baseball game, an at-bat, to a pitch saying I have to,” Davis followed. “That’s the last thing you want to do is say, ‘I have to. I have to get a hit. I have to get a win.’ Baseball doesn’t operate like that. You want to go out there tomorrow and you want to get a win, obviously, but you can’t go out there saying, ‘We have to win, it’s the end all be all. You don’t want to go in there and get swept, so they gotta play better baseball tomorrow.”
The Phillies famously overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 games remaining in the 2007 season in one of the lowlights in Mets lore.
Now, the Mets are trying to see if they can make the Phillies feel that kind of pain.