'Sloppy game:' Phillies confidence shaken after Craig Kimbrel meltdown in NLCS Game 4

PHOENIX − It was completely dead silence inside the Philadelphia Phillies’ clubhouse late Friday evening.

Players stared vacantly into their lockers in utter disbelief. The Phillies front office talked in hushed tones inside manager Rob Thomson’s office. Owner John Middleton stood silently down the hallway.

When the Phillies spoke after their stunning 6-5 meltdown to the Arizona Diamondbacks, it was in short, subdued snippets for cameras and reporters, trying to convince everyone they’ll be fine.

The look on their faces, however, lacked all confidence.

This is a team that arrived into Phoenix three days ago, talking about jumping into the pool at Chase Field once they swept away the Diamondbacks, debating who they’d rather play in the World Series.

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They instead spent the night watching a safe eighth-inning lead melt in the desert, and are now in a fight for their lives.

The National League Championship Series may be tied at 2-apiece, but the Diamondbacks are now in the driver’s seat, with their ace, Zac Gallen, lined up for Game 5 [8:07 p.m. ET, TBS] at Chase Field before they return to Philadelphia.

"I’m tired of that narrative that we're lucky to be here …,’’ D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I think they take things personal. They have a chip on their shoulder. I know their backup catcher [Garrett Stubbs] made a statement about sprinting towards the pool or making a beeline to the pool.

“So, I think they're wearing that a little bit, and they're motivated by that externally, and they're motivated to be as good as they possibly can internally.’’

NLCS GAME 4 RECAP:Kimbrel melts down as Diamondbacks rally to beat Phillies, even up NLCS

While the Diamondbacks celebrated their most dramatic playoff victory since winning the 2001 World Series, president Dave Dombrowski and GM Sam Fuld sat with Thompson in his office, trying to make sense of it all.

Sure, they have their ace, Zack Wheeler going in Game 5 against Gallen, but their bullpen is in utter disarray, having no idea who they can trust.

The man who has saved 417 career games, Craig Kimbrel, has melted down at the absolute worst time.

He lost Game 3 in the ninth inning, and for an encore, blew a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning.

He faced six batters Friday.

Four batters reached base.

And he nearly caused the roof to blow off Chase Field when he gave up a stunning game-tying, two-run home run to rookie Alek Thomas on a 3-and-2 fastball that splashed down in the pool. He dropped to his knees in agony as Thomas danced around the bases, basking in the deafening ovation.

“I mean, that play is definitely something that you see in your dreams,’’ Thomas said. “For it to come in real life and for it to happen to me is just awesome. I'm so grateful to have that moment. It's just unreal. Just crazy.

“I haven't really processed it yet, but it was awesome.’’

Four batters later, it was all over. Kimbrel left two batters on base when he was mercifully pulled, and Jose Alvarado couldn’t clean up his mess with Gabriel Moreno lining a single to center field for a 6-5 lead.

D-backs closer Paul Sewald came in for the ninth, gave up a two-out double to Kyle Schwarber, but struck out Trea Turner to complete the crazy night.

“I can't really describe how I feel,’’ Lovullo said, “because I haven't had a chance to interpret what just happened. It happened so quickly, and it was just a group of players banding together and getting the job done.’’

Well, Kimbrel shared the problem describing his emotions, too.

This is a guy who just three days ago was discussing the Hall of Fame in an interview room.

This night, he was proving why he’ll fall short of a Cooperstown induction.

It’s one thing to have the seventh-most saves in baseball history, but when the Boston Red Sox snub you during their 2018 World Series run by using starter Chris Sale for their final outs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers leave you completely off the roster in last year’s postseason, and you melt down for the Phillies a year later, you have a tarnished Hall of Fame resume.

Who knows if the Phillies will now trust him again the rest of the postseason?

Certainly, not in a critical moment.

Kimbrel, with his iPad open in his locker,  was the first one to speak in the Phillies clubhouse.

He responded quickly, succinctly, but had no real answers for the meltdown.

Question: “Craig, what happened to the 3-2 pitch to Thomas?

Kimbrel: “He hit it over the fence.’’

Question: Location?

Kimbrel: “I wouldn’t say location. It was terrible. He just put a good swing on it, and hit it out of the ballpark.’’

Question: How’s your confidence?

Kimbrel: “I mean, the last two games sucked. I roll up in here and cost us two games. … I can’t let that get in the way of what my job is and what I need to do. I need to show up and be ready.’’

Question: How do you keep your mind right?

“I mean, I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve lost a lot of ball games and I won a lot of ball games. And the only way you come back to be successful is believing you can. And I believe the next time I touch the ball it’s going to be great.

And, so it went for 1 minute, 42 seconds.

Kimbrel spoke about his inability to throw his curveball for strikes, falling behind in the count, insists he still has confidence, but has no idea whether he’ll be able to pitch for a third consecutive day if needed in Game 5.

Really, the Phillies have no idea who’ll be available until they check in with their relievers before Saturday’s game, praying that Wheeler, can go at least six innings, preferably seven, if not longer.

Still, they know they are in trouble.

They have an exhausted bullpen, using 11 relievers in the last two games to combine for 26 outs. They can no longer trust Kimbrel or rookie Orion Kenkering, and still have two pitchers they haven’t dared to use in games in Taijuan Walker and Michael Lorenzen.

Can they dare use Kimbrel in another save situation the rest of the postseason?

“We have to talk about it, but do you put him in at a little lower leverage spot?’’ Thomson said. “I don't know.’’

So, while the Diamondbacks are winning a game using eight different relievers like Friday, the Phillies are using an 11-man staff instead of 13, and suddenly are without a reliable closer.

Thomson has turned to Kerkering in crucial situations the last two games. And twice has imploded. He gave up three consecutive hits without retiring a batter in Game 3, and walked two batters and got one out in Game 4. He suddenly has lost command, falling behind in counts, and the price.

“That’s how you turn good hitters into great hitters,’’ Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “We’re just falling behind too much and not attacking.’’

Perhaps the most alarming facet of the Phillies’ predicament is that they’ve managed to shut down the D-backs’ power-hitting trio of Corbin Carroll, Christian Walker and Tommy Pham, and it has made little difference. They are hitting just .071 in the series without an extra-base hit, but they haven’t figured out a way to stop leadoff hitter Ketel Marte, who’s hitting .471 (8-for-17) and reached base three more times Friday.

Much of the Phillies’ pain is also self-inflicted, with the Diamondbacks scoring one run on an error, passed ball and pitcher Cristopher Sanchez forgetting how many outs there were in an inning, another on a wild pitch, and their bullpen issuing four walks and a hit-by-pitch leading to four runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

“It’s just a sloppy game all around,’’ Realmuto said. “It’s not acceptable to play that way when the game is big.’’

The Phillies tried to shrug it off, with Alvarado saying, “Hey, it’s baseball,’’ but the Phillies’ confidence is clearly shaken. The swagger is gone. They may have games 6 and 7 scheduled in Philadelphia, but they can’t solely rely on their fans saving them from disaster.

It’s enough for the D-backs to believe they can not only play with the powerful Phillies, but slay the dragon, shocking the baseball world.

“We’re not going to give up,’’ said Thomas, 23, the youngest player in postseason history to hit a game-tying pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning or later. “‘How could we? We’re not done yet.

“We’re going to keep on doing our thing and hopefully good things happen.’’

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