May 3, 2022; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi (25) looks on after a pitching change during the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the course of a 162-game season, every team will have a bullpen meltdown or two. It’s inevitable. But what happened to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday goes well beyond a meltdown.

With his Phillies up 7-1, reliever James Norwood started the inning in hopes of shutting down the New York Mets and ending a three-game losing streak. It didn’t happen.

Starling Marte got the inning going with an infield single and promptly scored on a home run from Francisco Lindor, making the game 7-3. Pete Alonso then doubled, which was followed by a lineout from Eduardo Escobar. That did nothing to stall New York’s momentum. Jeff McNiel singled, moving Alonso to third. At that point, Norwood was pulled for Corey Knebel. The pitching change did not help.

Mark Canha delievered an infield single to score Alonso. Knebel then struck out Dominic Smith. At this point, it felt like watching the part of an action movie where the hero’s best friend seems to vanquish the bad guy only to have the bad guy spring back up and stab the friend in the back as the hero screams “NOOOOOOOOOOOO” in slow motion. You knew what was coming but there was nothing you could do.

After Smith struck out, J.D. Davis came up and doubled McNeil home, cutting the lead to 7-5. Canha and Travis Jankowski (who was running for Davis) then both scored on a double from Brandon Nimmo to tie the game. Then, in his second at-bat of the inning, Marte ripped a double to score Nimmo, giving the Mets an 8-7 lead.

Knebel retired Lindor to keep the deficit at one run, but that didn’t help. The Phillies went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, solidifying one of the worst losses any team will ever have.

Not surprisingly, the reaction from the Philadelphia fans was not pleasant. Several reactions were not suitable for print.

Others in the MLB world did manage to find a more PG way to express their collective disbelief.

In an apparent attempt to find silver lining Manager Joe Girardi dropped this doozy after the game.

Unfortunately, most baseball games go nine innings.

Philadelphia fans looking for silver lining though do have one thing to hang their hats on.

Indeed.

[Michael Barkann]

About Michael Dixon

Michael is a writer and editor for The Comeback Media. He is Bay Area native living in the Indianapolis area. Michael is also a big nerd when it comes to sports history and to a slightly lesser extent, all history. Beyond that, loves tacos, pizza and random Seinfeld quotes.

Feel free to voice your agreements or disagreements. If you do so respectfully, Michael will gladly respond in kind.

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