Phillies Are Haunted by Citi Field Whether They Want To Admit It or Not

So many things went wrong for the Phillies on Monday, with a lot of uncharacteristic things occurring on and off the field that really shined the light on how difficult this place has become for this group to win in.

First, in the midst of a battle for the NL Cy Young Award, Cristopher Sanchez had his worst start of the year, blowing a 3-0 lead by getting lit up in the fourth inning after he was perfect through the first three frames of the game.

With his command all over the place and his changeup not being effective, the left-hander was tagged for three runs in the bottom of the fourth; all with two outs. Where things really went downhill was following his balk, a rare mistake that seemed to rattle the normally unflappable Sanchez.

Then, in an even more surprising display by the ace, he was seen having an outburst in the dugout, repeatedly kicking a trash can in frustration after he came off the field.

In the top of the fifth inning, Alec Bohm grounded into a double play and complained about a glare coming off what appeared to be a microphone in the outfield, causing a delay that lasted over 10 minutes as things got taken care of.

During the bottom of the fifth inning, Bryce Harper made a horrendous decision in the field when he held onto the ball too long during a rundown that allowed Juan Soto to get to second base safely, another moment that showed Phillies players were not locked into this game.

Instead of two outs and nobody on base, the Mets had a runner in scoring position with an extra out to play with, something they took advantage of by producing a run to take a lead they ultimately did not relinquish.

Phillies Have To Admit Citi Field Is Their House of Horrors

With Monday's loss, not only has Philadelphia been defeated by New York eight times in a row when playing at Citi Field, but they have also lost 22 of their last 28 contests when playing at that venue, a staggering record for a team as talented as the Phillies.

After the game, players continued to deny that playing in that ballpark has anything to do with their struggles, but perhaps it's time for them to finally admit that's the case.

I'm not a professional baseball player, so perhaps my thought process here is way off. But it almost feels like they are trying too hard to not say they have problems at Citi Field, which in turn, actually puts more pressure on themselves to perform, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Maybe if someone -- Harper or Kyle Schwarber: the leaders of this team -- just came out and said they have a hard time playing in that ballpark, a weight would be lifted off their shoulders and they could just go out there and play.

Again, maybe I'm way off base here, but it's clear something needs to change. Because what they have done to this point has not worked. And if they keep trying the same things over and over again, they likely are going to get the same result.

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