Phillies postgame show unloads on team after blowing three-run lead

There’s something to be said about the local media in Philadelphia; they never let their teams off the hook.

That was on full display Sunday afternoon after the Phillies blew a three-run lead against the Miami Marlins late in the game. NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Michael Barkann and Ricky Bottalico made sure that, come this fall, Philly sports fans remember this game, in particular, when the team falls a game short of a playoff spot, home-field advantage, or whatever else the club might be fighting for.

Phillies postgame show was objectively hilarious today😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/thAA0QpB6u

— jUSTIN (@metsventpage) April 20, 2025

“We never count these games in April,” Barkan began. “If the Phillies should, heaven forbid, fail to make the playoffs, fail to win the division, or they fail to win home field, look at this game right here! 4-1 into the seventh, they didn’t do what they needed to do. The errors committed, the blunders committed, they wasted a great performance by Jesús Luzardo.”

“I feel like they almost got sucked into a bad team,” Bottalico said. “This Marlins team I think is horrible. …The [Phillies] bullpen is a problem. I know it’s early in the season, but I think the bullpen is turning into a little bit of a problem. …This is a game that they just gave away. And it was funny, we did the seventh inning hit and my first thought was, ‘They’ve been letting this team off the hook too much.’ You know, the one thing the Phillies have done well in this series, they’ve gotten off to good starts. You know what, step on somebody’s head! And don’t let ’em up!”

Blaming any future Phillies shortcomings on this game in particular is a bit hyperbolic, even by Philadelphia media standards. But it’s refreshing to hear a couple of analysts treat each regular season game like it matters, because they do.

Baseball struggles with creating stakes at this time of year. It’s difficult to see the forest from the trees when you know that there’s over 100 games left in the season to right any wrongs. But games in April count just the same as games in September. And conveying that importance to fans goes a long way in keeping people bought in all season long.

So while it might be a little rich to point to this game come playoff time and suggest things would be better had the Phillies just taken care of business in April, it’s really not as crazy as it sounds.