Phillies vs. Mets: Ranger Suarez bounces back but Phillies’ bats silenced by

NEW YORK — Tuesday’s series opener at Citi Field was the official one-third mark of the Phillies’ season and it played out the way a good portion of their first 54 games have, with too many swings on pitches outside the strike zone in a 2-0 loss.

The Phils were facing Mets right-hander Kodai Senga for the first time. The million starting pitcher had walked at least three batters in eight of his nine starts since coming over from Japan but didn’t walk anyone Tuesday night. The Phillies had just one baserunner in his seven innings, a Kody Clemens single. They chased 43% of Senga’s pitches outside the strike zone, well above the league-average chase rate of 31%.

Even when they did exercise patience, the Phillies didn’t get the calls. Brandon Marsh worked a 3-1 count with two outs in the fifth inning and the Phils down a run. A pitch well out of the zone high was called strike two and Marsh struck out a pitch later. Every call like that matters in a tight game.

Nick Castellanos was robbed of a home run an inning earlier by Brandon Nimmo, the second straight game the opposing center fielder has taken a homer back from the Phils. Michael Harris II victimized Kyle Schwarber Sunday night in Atlanta.

“That’s the way that it’s going for the Phils right now,” Castellanos said. “But we’ve just got to keep treading water, stay fighting. It’s a long season.”

Senga definitely had his “ghost forkball” working against the Phillies, generating a whiff 12 of the 18 times they swung at it. But a lack of plate selection has been a constant theme in the Phils’ 25-29 start to the season. Only six teams in the majors have a lower walk rate. Only the White Sox have chased more pitches outside the zone.

“He was throwing it for strikes early and then he expanded with it and we chased,” manager Rob Thomson said. “We haven’t seen him. Usually, our guys, the more experienced guys, they see a pitcher over and over again, they get more comfortable. When you see a guy the first time, sometimes it’s tough to deal with.”

The Phillies’ most selective hitter, Bryce Harper, was out of the lineup for the first time since returning May 2 from Tommy John surgery. Thomson said it was not injury-related, but it was curious that he did not use Harper as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning of a two-run game.

“He’s fine, he’ll play tomorrow,” the manager said. “We wanted to give him a full day off, don’t swing the bat, don’t get ready. A lot of times when they’re pinch-hitting, they take a lot of swings, a lot of swings, a lot of swings (throughout the game). We wanted to give him a full day. 

“To keep him healthy, I’d rather not risk that.”

The Phillies wanted to give Harper two full days off with the off day Monday. It meant sitting Sunday or Tuesday. Harper wanted to play Sunday, so the Phils sat him Tuesday. In retrospect, it probably would have made more sense to rest him Sunday night in the Spencer Strider-Dylan Covey game which skewed heavily…