4 Phillies Who Cost Their Team the NLCS
That was a rough one. After going up 2-0 in the series it felt like the Phillies had all the momentum in the world and that an NLCS was all but inevitable. That came crashing down in record time.
A painful series like this, especially against a heavy underdog in the Arizona Diamondbacks, hurts more than a typical one too. And when you're supposed to win, you don't blow a 2-0 series lead without some things going very wrong.
Here are the Phillies most to blame for falling shy of a World Series bid.
1. Craig Kimbrel
Talk about a rough series for Craig Kimbrel.
After a terrific start to the playoffs (and even a great first game in the NLCS), Kimbrel totally fell apart.
He earned losses in both Game 3 and Game 4, not making it through a full inning in either. He couldn’t find his spot at all and showed none of what made him so great earlier in the postseason.
He redeemed himself a little bit in Game 6, though he still wasn’t terrific there, and it was a major case of too little too late.
Kimbrel finished the NLCS with a 12.0 ERA (backed by a 9.92 FIP), giving up 5 walks, 4 hits and 4 earned runs in just 3.0 innings pitched.