Philadelphia Phillies: 10 worst losses of the 2019 season

3. June 3: Padres 8, Phillies 2

The Phillies came into San Diego on a four-game losing streak, yet they still led the National League East at this point thanks to a strong first 1/3 of the season.

But that would all be wiped away in an instant in the first inning of this game.

After Andrew McCutchen led off the game with a walk, Jean Segura hit a pop-up to the right side of the infield.

Not unusual, except that Segura dropped to one knee on his swing and then didn’t immediately get back up to run down the line. Seeing this, San Diego Padres second baseman Ian Kinsler let the ball drop so that he could turn it into a double play.

San Diego executed the twin killing, at the expense of McCutchen’s ACL, which he tore in the ensuing rundown. His season was done after 59 games. This is a guy who had only failed to play in 150+ games once this decade.

But, that’s the Phillies for you. Avoidable season-ruining injuries and a lack of accountability after the fact, as Segura never faced any kind of discipline from Kapler for the lack of hustle that led directly to the play (or another incident a few weeks later).

The whole situation was a painful, but perfect demonstration of what is wrong with the team under Kapler, and the theme continued throughout the season.

Oh, and the Phillies lost the game 8-2 after allowing a seven-run inning for the second-straight game.

More importantly, they lost their leadoff hitter, and Kapler would try out seven different players in the spot after McCutchen’s injury without ever getting the kind of production that the team needed.