Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a homer, then followed it up two innings later with his second home run of the game, giving the Phillies a 3-0 lead. By the seventh, they were losing 4-3, as the Guardians hand them their fourth straight series loss.
Both starters – Joey Cantillo making his big league debut for the Guardians, Kolby Allard making an emergency, last-minute start for the Phillies after Ranger Suarez went on the injured list – had said their goodbyes by the end of the fourth inning Sunday.
Then, with the score tied at three, the game settled into a Battle of the Bullpens. A total of 11 relievers paraded to the mound before the issue was decided.
“The one thing about using a lot of pitchers in a game is that, usually, somebody doesn’t pitch well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson observed.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
This time, it was Jose Alvarado who found himself in the bull’s eye. Both sides matched zeroes until Cleveland designated hitter Steven Kwan ripped a solo home run to right with two outs in the top of the seventh off the burly lefthander.
That gave Cleveland a 4-3 win that sent the Phillies tumbling to their fourth straight series loss with the second-place Yankees coming to Citizens Bank Park, followed by a long trip to face the tied-for-first Mariners, first-place Dodgers and on-the-playoff-bubble Diamondbacks looming.
Thomson, however, excepted Alvarado from the sweeping generalization. “Kwan just beat him to the spot,” the manager said. “He’s a good hitter. Alvy’s been throwing the ball well. His stuff is back. He’s back in the zone.”
Alvarado has been a bit of a riddle wrapped in an enigma this season.
Philadelphia Phillies
Find the latest Philadelphia Phillies news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Statistics can be cherry-picked to prove almost anything. But after a rough first outing, Alvarado posted a 1.35 earned run average with 11 saves in 12 opportunities in his next 28 appearances through June 5.
In 17 outings since, though, his ERA is 6.19 and he has blown three saves in five tries.
But wait! In his two games before Sunday he struck out four in two innings while allowing just one hit.
Alvarado agreed that this was just one of those things. “I felt really, really good. My command is really good. That’s baseball.
“I don’t have any questions about that homer. He was lucky. I saw the video. That pitch (a 98.3 mile an hour sinker) was way, way in. I don’t have any question. I’m very surprised he was able to hit that pitch.”
It was the first home run Alvarado has allowed to a lefthanded hitter this season. In fact, it was the first hit off him by a lefthanded hitter since Yordan Alvarez in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series.
As they say, timing is everything.