Wednesday was not the best day for the Phillies at the plate. But for a moment, it seemed like their two-time MVP would make that a moot point. Bryce Harper hit two home runs, his 16th and 17th of the season, but it wasn’t enough for the Phillies, who managed just six hits, to eke out a win. They fell to the Padres, 5-2, in Wednesday’s series finale to come up short of a series and season sweep of San Diego.
After a string of 11 straight outings without allowing a run, Phillies reliever Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three unearned runs in the eighth. He allowed back-to-back singles to Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado, struck out Donovan Solano, and Ha-Seong Kim reached on a fielding error by third baseman Alec Bohm.
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Gregory Soto entered in relief, and induced a pop out, but allowed a triple to Jackson Merrill that enabled pinch-runner José Azocar, Kim and Machado to score when center fielder Brandon Marsh tried to make a sliding catch, but the ball went right under his glove.
With the offense combining for two runs on six hits, and going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, there was little room for error. Starting pitcher Ranger Suárez kept the Phillies in the game with another stellar outing, allowing just one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts in six innings. But the bullpen and defense were uncharacteristically shaky.
Orion Kerkering entered after Suárez in the seventh, and allowed one earned run on two hits with one strikeout. Domínguez got one out in the eighth before being relieved by Soto. Jose Ruiz pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Padres’ Robert Suárez — of Bedlam at the Bank fame — pitched the bottom of the ninth after blowing a save on Tuesday night. He fared much better on Wednesday, striking out Marsh and retiring Edmundo Sosa and David Dahl to end the game.
