Trea Turner in freefall, Phillies hitters will attempt to ‘flip the switch’ against Mets in Game 2

Trea Turner entered the Phillies clubhouse Saturday at 7:55 p.m. He was in full uniform, with his bat in his right hand. Their 6-2 loss to the Mets in Game 1 of the National League Division Series had ended a half-hour earlier, but the Phillies shortstop wanted to get a few more swings.

So he stepped into the cage, while assistant hitting coach Rafael Peña took pitch after pitch. He saw dozens, maybe a hundred.

“Just to talk and look at some things,” Turner said. “Get ready for tomorrow.”

He had just had a frustrating night. Turner went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts against the Mets. The Phillies scored two runs on five hits with four walks and eight strikeouts.

They ruined one of the best starts of Zack Wheeler’s postseason career and set an ominous tone for the rest of this series. What compounded the frustration within the clubhouse was that everyone knew what the problem was. It was the same problem the Phillies had this time last year.

“We’re chasing balls in the dirt,” Bryce Harper said. “We didn’t work as thoroughly on the counts as we should have. We need to understand what they are going to try to do to us and immediately flip the switch as an offense.

Flipping the switch is easier said than done. The more you press, the harder you try not hunt, the harder it is to do just that. But knowing the opposing team’s game plan can help. And the plan for how to attack the Phillies on Saturday night was obvious.

There wasn’t much land in the area. This did not prevent the composition from moving.

“I mean, obviously they’re going to bury stuff,” Harper said. “And try to make us run as much as possible. Obviously, they have a very good pitch. But we have some really good hitters here. We just have to persevere and understand that we can do it.

After Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run off Kodai Senga in the first inning, the Phillies didn’t score again until the bottom of the ninth. At that point, it wasn’t enough. The Mets had already moved up five spots in the eighth, scoring three runs off Jeff Hoffman and two off Matt Strahm.

They added another one off Tanner Banks in the top of the ninth. It was a deflating way to lose, especially after Wheeler held the Mets to just one hit.

» LEARN MORE: Murphy: The Phillies just lost a near-winnable Game 1. The Bats better get there fast in Game 2.

“It sucks,” Nick Castellanos said. “It sucks. It’s rubbish. The way he threw the ball, I think he deserves to win, that’s for sure.

Added Harper: “Obviously I feel like as an offense we blew that start. »

Turner said he struggled with borderline throws — ones that just caught the corners of the zone, which could be called a strike or a ball. Castellanos, Alec Bohm and Johan Rojas continued at higher rates.

Either way, the results are almost entirely the same. Castellanos finished his night 1 for 4 with two strikeouts. Bohm went 0 for 4 and Rojas went 0 for 2 with a walk.

“I think I chased down one pitch in my first at-bat, one in my second,” Turner said. “I didn’t chase any down in my last at-bat. I don’t know, it’s hard; On my second at-bat I get a borderline pitch and they call it a strike. And then you kind of think. “You gotta swing at that,” and then I ended up throwing the curveball downfield, ground ball to the shortstop.

“Hindsight is so simple, and I agree with (manager Rob Thomson), of course. Obviously, not chasing is the way to win these games. We took quite a few walks today. I thought we did a good job. But we must continue to pass the baton.

What didn’t help the Phillies or Mets was that it was a late afternoon start time. Long shadows stretched across the field. A terrain can appear light, then dark, then light again, then dark again, depending on how the afternoon shadows are cast.

» LEARN MORE: Hayes: Heartless Phillies collapse again in NLDS Game 1 vs. Mets, like they did in last year’s NLCS

This affected both teams. The throw is more difficult to make in the postseason; It’s especially difficult when you can’t see the trajectory or spin of the ball whizzing toward you.

“I feel like from the first inning to the seventh inning it was really hard to see baseball,” Castellanos said. “I think both ways. What did we achieve on three hits (two) in the first seven innings?

“And then, I think both teams – after the sun was behind the stadium – put together better hitters.”

He added: “It’s a bit like when we start at 1:30 p.m., and it gets to the end of the game, and it becomes more difficult. At 4 p.m., it’s going to get harder if there are no clouds in the sky, and it will get easier as the match goes on.

The Phillies face the Mets again on Sunday, at the same time: 4:08 p.m. Their games on Tuesday and Wednesday will both take place at 5:08 p.m. at Citi Field. The shadows will always be there. The temptation to chase will always be there. The Phillies will just have to find a way to get through this.

“It’s going to be difficult,” Castellanos said. “It will be the same (the shadows) for us as for them. We’re going to have to find a way to deal with this, put some good hitters together and score more runs than them.