Author: Scott Lauber

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trea Turner crossed over second base, took a throw from Bryson Stott, and sidearmed the ball to first.

Double play, right?

More like double trouble.

Turner uncorked a sinker in the dirt that skipped by diving first baseman Bryce Harper. A run scored. An avalanche followed. Rather than escaping the first inning here Monday, Cristopher Sánchez got blitzed for six runs, the start of a 15-1 Phillies trouncing by the bottom-dwelling Royals.

“That’s a play you’ve got to make,” Turner said. “Who knows how that game ends up if [Sánchez] gets out of there clean and then gets on a roll?”

Who knows? Because with a chance to deliver a series win for the Phillies and a closing argument to be the National League’s starting pitcher next week in the All-Star Game, Sánchez endured the worst start of his career.

The ugly numbers:

• 3⅓ innings, his shortest (noninjury) start since April 23, 2024
• nine runs, career high
• 12 hits, tied for career high
• three homers, career high

“It was not good,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “I mean, it was crap what I did today.”

Sánchez repeatedly was over the middle of the plate with his signature changeup. His sinker lacked its peak zip. Each of the homers — Luke Maile’s three-run shot in the first inning and solos by Salvador Perez and Lane Thomas — came on changeups.

A half-dozen Royals hits against Sánchez were scorched at 100 mph or faster off the bat. Sánchez’s ERA climbed from 2.00, second-best in the NL, to 2.62, seventh in the league.

Turner’s error absolved none of that.

But it did change the game.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Turner said. “They put some good swings on the ball today. But [Sánchez] has thrown the ball so great this whole year. He could easily put up five, six, seven scoreless, and we could’ve been in it.”

Turner said he “rushed it a little bit” after taking the throw from Stott. It was his 12th error of the season, tied for the third-most among shortstops behind the Nationals’ CJ Abrams and the Angels’ Zach Neto (14 apiece).

Errors aren’t always the truest measure of defense, but modern metrics haven’t favored Turner either. Entering play Monday, he was tied for 32nd among shortstops in outs above average (minus-6) and ranked last in defensive runs saved (minus-8).

The Phillies haven’t considered moving Turner away from shortstop, especially after last year, when he had one of his best defensive seasons. But given his downturn this season, the questions will be renewed.

“I don’t think this year’s been nearly as good as last,” Turner said. “I feel like just a little sped up. I feel like the game slowed down quite a bit last year. It’s still in there. I feel like I can do it.”

Don Mattingly didn’t want to discuss Turner specifically. But he made clear that the Phillies must convert more balls in play into outs. By most metrics, and through the old-fashioned eye test, they rank among the worst defensive teams in the sport.

“Let’s just say in general, I think defense is always a concern,” Mattingly said. “You want to limit outs. You never know when one out turns into runs at any point in the game.”

Sánchez’s first inning was proof of concept. Instead of being back in the dugout after a scoreless inning, he gave up four consecutive hits: RBI singles from Nick Loftin and Starling Marte, an infield single by Tyler Tolbert, and Maile’s homer, which sent center fielder Derek Hill crashing into the wall.

And with that, the rout was on.

Kyle Schwarber got ejected by plate umpire Alan Porter after striking out in the sixth inning. Third-string catcher Garrett Stubbs pitched the eighth — and gave up the last two runs and four hits in the Royals’ 22-hit barrage. Mattingly emptied the bench in the middle innings, spring training-style.

And the Phillies dropped the series to the Royals, who have the second-worst record in a bad American League. They’ve lost three of the last four games and five out of nine, with six games left before the All-Star break.

Sánchez will get one more start, Saturday in Detroit, to stake his claim as the first Phillies pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2011.

In the meantime, the Phillies will dive into whether the start against the Royals was a one-off or a reason for concern about the ace lefty, who has worked the second-most innings (120⅓) of any pitcher in the majors.

Mattingly noted that Sánchez struggled in three recent road starts in Milwaukee, Washington, and now Kansas City. Maybe that’s a coincidence. He has always pitched better at home.

“You are looking like, ‘Is he getting ahead in the count; is he getting the ball where he wants to on the plate,’ things like that,” Mattingly said. “That’s what you look at. You’re looking at health. [Is he] tired, even? We’ve asked a lot of him. He’s thrown a lot of innings.”

Sánchez insists everything’s fine. And if Turner makes a better throw to first base, who knows?

“I feel great,” Sánchez said. “That’s why I was a little surprised to have such an outing today. Because, physically, I feel really good.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — During the seventh-inning stretch here Sunday, as the fans stood for a holiday-weekend rendition of “God Bless America,” Aaron Nola returned to the mound.

And it was fair to wonder why.

Never mind that Nola’s pitch count was under control, or that the Phillies were trailing by one run. He started the seventh inning only once in 17 previous starts — and not since April 3.

But Don Mattingly stuck with Nola, who struck out the side to punctuate his best start of the season, the extent of the good news for the Phillies in a series-evening 5-2 loss to the Royals.

Here’s the thing, though: It would be really good news for the Phillies if three runs on seven hits in seven walk-free innings was the start of a turnaround for Nola.

“It’s obviously important that [Nola’s] start turns into a [future] game that you feel like you’re in, you’re not scrambling the whole day,” Mattingly said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be seven. But if we’re in the game through six, five, seven, whatever that is, then it gives us a lot better shot to be able to put some runs up.”

OK, so that last part didn’t happen on this toasty day in the Midwest. The Phillies generated five hits, including two after the fifth inning. And unlike Saturday night’s series opener, the Royals kept them in the ballpark.

At least the Phillies were able to look forward to sending Cristopher Sánchez to the mound for Monday’s rubber game.

Other than Nola — and the pregame ceremony, in which bench coach Dusty Wathan’s dad, John, went into the Royals’ Hall of Fame — there wasn’t much to look back on.

In that case, let’s talk about Nola, who entered with a 6.04 ERA, second-worst among 64 pitchers who qualified for the ERA title, and gave up hits to three of the Royals’ first five batters.

Here we go again?

Not exactly.

After allowing two first-inning runs on back-to-back singles by Lane Thomas and Michael Massey, Nola knuckled down. Leading again with his signature curveball, he held the Royals off the board save for a fifth-inning run on a leadoff double and a sacrifice fly.

Nola threw 98 pitches; 31 were curveballs, and 11 of those generated swings and misses.

“Yeah, curveball felt good,” he said. “Better than it had been in some previous starts. I had a couple ones that kind of popped out [of his hand] a little bit, but overall they felt pretty sharp.”

Sharpening the curveball was a focus for Nola between starts. His also worked on his changeup, a vital weapon for him against left-handed hitters. Specifically, he wants the changeup to move downward rather than “wiping out to the right side” and into the swing paths of left-handed hitters.

The Phillies also paired Nola with third-string catcher Garrett Stubbs in hopes of rekindling success that they’ve had working with one another in the past. Nola and Stubbs navigated the Royals’ weak lineup mostly with offspeed pitches. He threw as many changeups (19) as fastballs (19).

“It’s always a plan to go in and throw that [changeup], just depending on how it’s working and feeling that day,” Nola said. “Today it felt really good, and we threw it quite a bit.”

Nola was at 83 pitches after six innings. Trailing 3-2 and with the bottom of the Royals’ order due to bat, Mattingly let Nola go back out for the seventh inning. Nola wound up completing the seventh for the first time since he went eight innings last Sept. 26.

“I felt like he was throwing the ball as good as anybody,” said Mattingly, who had two relievers warming just in case. “I felt like he’d handled those guys pretty well. If anybody gets on there, we’re not going to let him try to face the top of the order. But he got his guys.”

Nola appreciated the opportunity.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I threw seven,” he said. “It’s the first time this year. I don’t know. Felt pretty good. I don’t think I had any walks, which is a plus.”

Especially if Nola is able to keep it going Friday in Detroit, his last start before the All-Star break.

The Phillies are already searching for a No. 5 starter after optioning Andrew Painter to triple A last month. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham was encouraged by Painter’s second start for Lehigh Valley: one run on four hits and no walks in six innings Saturday in Rochester, N.Y.

Mattingly didn’t rule out a swift return to the majors for Painter.

“I think everything’s on the table,” he said. “I never had any feeling that it was sending him out and forgetting about him, right? It was send him out to work on stuff and help him get better. So, I think anything could happen.”

Even a resurgence for Nola.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With fireworks pop, pop, popping in the distance in all directions around Kaufman Stadium, the Phillies burst a few bombs in the air, too, Saturday night.

Just not from the usual sources.

Never mind that five players — nearly 20% of the roster — found out before the game that they will come home to play in Philly’s All-Star Game on July 14. It was the supporting cast — notably J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, and Jesús Luzardo — that lit up the Royals, 6-1, on the Fourth of July.

In winning for the 10th time in 14 games, the Phillies got homers from Realmuto, rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr., and Bohm. Luzardo rode his devastating sweeper to strike out nine batters in six solid innings.

And what about those All-Stars? Although they were in the lineup, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh might as well have taken the night off. Jhoan Duran did. There was no save necessary.

It was a no-muss, no-fuss win for the Phillies, now 41-20 under interim manager Don Mattingly and 50-39 overall, still breathing down the neck of the Braves, who lead the division by three games.

“I feel like, if we’re going to be any good, we need to get contributions up and down,” Mattingly said. “It can’t always be Harp and Schwarb hitting homers and driving in a bunch of runs. It’s got to be the whole roster.”

Yes, and before Realmuto and Rincones — the seventh- and eighth-place hitters — launched back-to-back homers against Royals starter Michael Wacha in the fourth inning, Luzardo set the tone for the night.

In his second-to-last start before the All-Star break, Luzardo retired the first eight batters — five by strikeout — before yielding an infield single. He mixed four pitches but could’ve easily gotten by with only the sweeper, a pitch that he started throwing only before last season.

Luzardo threw a total of 95 pitches; 42 were sweepers, 15 of which generated swings and misses. And while he preyed on one of the worst offenses in baseball, it also continued a trend in which the sweeper has been more effective.

“I almost felt like I threw it so much that I forgot how to throw it,” Luzardo said. “But lately, I feel like the last five or six starts, it’s felt back to what it was and maybe even get better.”

Mattingly said it can be tough to differentiate Luzardo’s sweeper from his other pitches, including his changeup. If it’s difficult to tell from the dugout, imagine what it looks like in the batter’s box.

“It’s the angle with him,” Mattingly said. “It kind of gets into where you get pitches feeding off each other. The fastball sinks, and then the changeup, and then the sweeper, and it all starts feeding out of the window. It’s really effective.”

Said Royals manager Matt Quatraro: “It’s an elite pitch. You hope that he makes a mistake.”

The Royals finally scratched across a run in the fourth inning on Lane Thomas’ double and a two-out infield single from Nick Loftin.

By then, though, the Phillies already had a lead.

The Phillies put pressure on Wacha by loading the bases with two out in the first inning but didn’t break through until Realmuto cracked a two-run homer in the fourth.

Rincones followed by hitting a cutter into the right-field bullpen to open a 3-0 lead.

Bohm teed off in the sixth inning with a leadoff homer. The Phillies kept tacking on. Trea Turner scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning before Bohm doubled and scored on Rincones’ single in the eighth.

Not mentioned: Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh, none of whom scored a run or drove one in. (Schwarber did, however, get three hits and reached base four times.)

The All-Stars brought the Phillies back from the sewer of a 9-19 start. And while the roster is top-heavy, the supporting actors have played a vital role in the surge under Mattingly.

“Obviously we wouldn’t be where we are today without all the guys that got nominated and picked to be All-Stars,” Luzardo said. “And I think we could have had a lot more, too. Selfishly, I think [Bryson] Stott, Bohm, [Zack Wheeler], obviously.

“But it is what it is. The guys that got picked, kudos to them. I’m really happy for them. It’s awesome to see.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Zack Wheeler pitches again for the Phillies, the air between him and manager Don Mattingly will be clear.

“All square,” Mattingly said Saturday.

To recap: Wheeler disagreed with being taken out before completing the fifth inning Wednesday night in Citizens Bank Park, even though he gave up back-to-back-to-back two-out hits and matched his season-high with 104 pitches.

Mattingly said he spoke with Wheeler and offered the same explanation that he gave reporters, notably that he had the long-term interests of Wheeler and the overall rotation in mind.

Did Wheeler accept that justification?

“I don’t know,” Mattingly said. “I’m not sure. I mean, I’ve been through it. It’s not my first time I’m going through it with a guy that’s really good. They never want to come out. It’s the way it goes with those guys, right?”

Besides, Wheeler may have a new gripe. He wasn’t selected to the National League All-Star team Saturday night despite posting a 2.36 ERA in 13 starts, a remarkable recovery after having a rib removed last September to treat a compressed vein near his collarbone.

Mattingly called a team meeting at about 6 p.m. here Saturday to break the news that Brandon Marsh, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jhoan Duran were named All-Stars.

Wheeler is lined up to start the last game before the break, which makes him ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game. Mattingly wasn’t sure if that was the reason that Wheeler was omitted.

Keller gets closer

Brad Keller gave up a two-run homer Friday night in a triple-A game in Rochester, N.Y., the reliever’s first game action since going on the injured list June 16 with right forearm tendinitis.

Despite the results, Mattingly said pitching coach Caleb Cotham was pleased when he watched video of Keller’s inning.

“He’s looking more at the process, what his delivery looks like, how it was coming out, how the ball’s spinning, all that kind of stuff,” Mattingly said. “And he was happy with it.”

Keller will pitch again Sunday in Rochester, according to Mattingly, after which the Phillies could decide to bring him back from the injured list.

The Phillies are relying on Keller as part of their late-inning bridge to closer Jhoan Duran. Keller overcame a rocky start and allowed three earned runs over 12⅔ innings in a span of 13 appearances before giving up three runs in the eighth inning June 13 in Milwaukee, his last appearance before being sidelined.

Overall, the 30-year-old righty has a 4.15 ERA in 31 appearances.

Rangel out, Banks in

With the fifth-starter spot coming up once more before the All-Star break — and not again until July 21 — the Phillies optioned righty Alan Rangel to triple A and recalled lefty Tanner Banks to get an extra arm in the bullpen.

Rangel replaced demoted Andrew Painter for three turns in the rotation. He appeared twice behind an opener and started once, posting a 3.46 ERA in 13 innings.

In his most recent start, Rangel sidestepped four walks in four scoreless innings in oppressive heat at home Thursday against the Pirates. As a “bulk” pitcher, he gave up one run in five innings June 22 in Washington and four runs in four innings June 27 in New York.

“It’s nothing that he’s done,” Mattingly said. “I mean, he threw the ball well, so we’re happy with the way he’s going. But it did give us a chance to get an extra [reliever].”

Mattingly said the Phillies will likely run a “true bullpen game” when the fifth-starter spot comes around Wednesday in Cincinnati, although it will be subject to how much the relievers are taxed over the next four games.

Banks began the season in the majors but was sent to triple A with a 5.86 ERA on June 18. In four games for Lehigh Valley, he allowed six runs (three earned) in 4⅓ innings for a 6.23 ERA.

Extra bases

The Phillies traded low-A right-hander Ryan Degges to Cleveland for international bonus pool space, money that was allocated to signing 17-year-old Taiwanese right-hander Ho Hua for $500,000, according to a league source. In May, the Phillies made a similar move for bonus pool money to sign Chan-min Park, a 17-year-old right-hander from South Korea, for $1.205 million. … The Phillies signed veteran catcher Payton Henry to a minor-league contract and sent him to triple A. … Aaron Nola (3-5, 6.04 ERA) is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Sunday against Royals righty Luinder Avila (3-3, 5.40).