Philadelphia Phillies: 10 worst losses of the 2019 season

4. June 14: Braves 9, Phillies 8

The Phillies slowly built a 5-1 lead on this night, and it grew to a 7-2 advantage by the seventh inning stretch.

Oddly enough, Kapler actually stuck with Nick Pivetta in this one, allowing him to come out for another inning. But he allowed a leadoff home run to Brian McCann and then permitted two more men to reach base before finally being yanked after throwing a career-high 116 pitches.

Velasquez would allow an inherited runner to score, cutting the Phils lead to 7-4. They added a run in the eighth inning, but Atlanta plated two more to make it 8-6 headed to the ninth.

You could just feel it coming, and it was going to be extremely painful.

Hector Neris allowed a leadoff hit but then recorded a pair of outs. He issued a walk and then got the Braves’ Austin Riley down to his last strike before allowing an RBI double. Yet the Phillies were still clinging to an 8-7 lead.

Again, Neris got two strikes on McCann, but the elderly backstop floated a garbage game-winning hit to the opposite field that some would say should have been caught to send the Phillies to a baffling but predictable 9-8 loss.