Phillies drop crucial game in playoff race after questionable bullpen decisions

Don Mattingly’s reliever choices backfire in Braves’ comeback

He opted to go with relief pitchers Jonathan Bowlan, Chase Shugart and Brooks Raley in three successive innings. Atlanta tied the game up every time Philadelphia’s offense tried to put the team over the hump, and it eventually won the extra-innings thriller 6-5 in the 11th inning.

Bowlan, Shugart and Raley all had shaky nights — each giving up at least one run — and it begs the question of whether or not Mattingly had any sharper options to choose from. One of the obvious choices would be relief pitcher Tim Mazya, a left-hander who has a 3.23 earned run average and has only allowed one earned run in his last 13 starts.

He hasn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday, so it’s a little surprising he didn’t see any action, especially considering that Mattingly went with another left-hander in Raley in the final inning.

Another option could have been right-handed reliever Orion Kerkering. He hasn’t pitched in over a week, and while he has struggled mightily with a 4.12 ERA, he at least has experience pitching in high-leverage spots. The three men who pitched on Friday are typically middle relievers who aren’t accustomed to closing out games.

Even if Mattingly didn’t want to bring in Kerkering, perhaps he could have left Shugart in the game, as he just recorded an out and had only thrown nine pitches. But instead he went with Raley, and Atlanta seized the game shortly after.

It’s a consequential loss for the Phillies, who are now five games back of the Braves with just 14 games left. They still have a solid cushion in the wild-card race, but winning the division will become a daunting task if they can’t pick up these next two games in the series. If they do end up making the playoffs as a wild-card team, these decisions by Mattingly could be some of the key reasons why.