ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers’ first at-bat with runners in scoring position didn’t come until the bottom of the sixth inning. Marcus Semien hit a double off of Kyle Gibson to get on base, and Corey Seager stepped up to the plate and roped the first pitch he saw, a cutter at the top of the zone. Semien scored to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers had one opportunity to score with runners in scoring position on Tuesday night and capitalized on it. The Phillies had nine opportunities on Tuesday night, didn’t capitalize on any of them and lost 7-0.
They could have gotten on the board in the top of the first inning, when Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins got on first and second with a single and a walk. But Nick Castellanos grounded into a double play and J.T. Realmuto grounded out.
They had another chance in the top of the fifth, when Yairo Muñoz singled and Hoskins walked to put runners on first and second with two outs. But Castellanos grounded out again, and another opportunity was wasted.
Their last opportunity came in the top of the sixth, when Realmuto and Bohm singled to put runners on first and second with one out. But Matt Vierling lined out and Johan Camargo hit a fly ball for an out to end the inning.
Starter Kyle Gibson did enough to keep his team in the game — pitching six and one-third innings, allowing seven hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts and no walks — but the Phillies’ offense scored no runs to back him up. They finished their night with only six hits.
Part of this is because their best hitter with runners in scoring position, Bryce Harper, is out of the lineup with an infected blister on his left index finger. Harper is hitting .370/.433/.796 with a 1.229 OPS in those scenarios. Hoskins has the second-best OPS with runners in scoring position on the team, and it’s almost 500 points lower (.786).
An offense this potent should be able to capitalize on these opportunities with or without Harper. But his absence over the past three games has been notable. The Phillies went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Sunday in Washington and 2-for-8 on Saturday. There’s no word yet on when Harper will return, but regardless, they’re going to have figure this out. With the Padres, the Braves and the Cardinals on deck, it doesn’t get easier from here.
Gibson cruises, then struggles
Gibson, in first start this season against his former team, cruised through his first four innings of work. He allowed just two hits, no runs and no walks over that span, but then hit a snag in the fifth inning, when he allowed back-to-back home runs to Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim.
He ran into more trouble in the bottom of the sixth, after allowing the RBI single to Seager. It was a solid performance — with a couple of mistake pitches that cost him — but it no was where near as solid as his previous outing against the Marlins. In that outing, Gibson went eight innings, helping Thomson preserve a fatigued bullpen, and allowed only seven hits and one earned run with no walks.
Jeurys Familia with another rough outing
It’s getting hard — maybe impossible — to trust reliever Jeurys Familia. Two outings ago, on June 14 against the Marlins, he gave up three earned runs over one-third of an inning pitched. When he came into the game in relief of Gibson on Tuesday, a win was still in reach for the Phillies. They were only down 3-0. But by the time he exited, one and one-third innings later, all hope was lost. He had allowed four earned runs, four hits and one walk (and two home runs).
After Tuesday night, Familia has a 5.55 ERA over 24.1 innings pitched this season.
