The Philadelphia Phillies had a chance to snuff the Mets, to take their heart right on their home turf. But instead, Citi Field once again became their personal house of horrors. Sure, the Phillies fans didn’t think that the team would go and sweep the Mets, but still, no one thought that for the 10th straight time, they would walk out of Queens feeling humiliated and in the hands of a rookie!

The Philadelphia Phillies, for now, seem to have tried almost everything at Citi Field, but nothing seems to work. This time, it was a brutal 6-0 shutout that simply made the fans furious. And made the Mets smile ear to ear. Rookie Nolan McLean, after all, turned Bryce Harper and the Phillies lineup into looking like practice dummies.

The Phillies were spinning throughout the series, and for fans, it was absolutely atrocious to handle. The Mets came into the series seven games back and now sit just four behind with a month left to play. This is the momentum that the Phillies honestly feared. Fans want the answers to how Phillies players allowed the Mets to toy with them. But all they got were excuses instead of answers.

When asked if Philadelphia just field the Mets comeback chase, Thomson said, “I don’t know,” Thomson said when asked if Philadelphia Phillies had just fueled the Mets’ comeback chase. “You’ll have to ask them.” Then he gave a rather old Yankee anecdote that somehow might have been to encourage the Phillies fans.“Tough, but you have to grind through it. I was looking at some of the Yankee stuff when I was there. So from 05 to 09, when we were in LA against the Angels, we were 3-13… we had lost 8 in a row. We beat them in the ALCS.” This came off as an excuse, then taking accountability.

Thomson later did try to shift the focus, saying, “We know that we need to play better. Yeah, it’s one of those series. We’ll just have to flush it and move on.” But after 10 straight losses, Phillies fans are not ready to flush this so quickly. For them, this is a pattern that’s impossible to ignore.

Philadelphia Phillies fans sound off on the brutal sweep

One user mentioned, “We’ve gone from ‘Burn the Boats’ to ‘Mommy, please tuck me in’ in less than a week.” Fans are mad, and it is understandable—because the Phillies look like a team that actually lost right the moment they stopped in Queens. Because just a week ago, the Phillies had completed one of their best series in years against the Mariners. The Mariners rebounded since, but the Phillies now fell flat to the New York Mets. This is why leaders need to step up, and when the front office slacks and is non-serious, nothing but such performances are expected.

Frustrated, one user said, “Very annoying.” Two words, but they sum up pretty much the fan sentiments. Moreover, not just the manager, there seems to be a lack of accountability in players, too. Jhoan Duran, who recently came in, for example, was not concerned about the bad outing. He had mentioned, “I threw the pitch where I wanted to throw it. They made contact; the ground ball passed the defense. So they put the ball to the spot where there isn’t anybody there. So they had good luck (Tuesday).” 

One fan said, “Rob does know that the Yankees and Angels don’t play in the same division and aren’t rivals, right?” Well, lucky for the Mets, right? They just got a breather, a new life, thanks to their rivals. And what makes fans even more mad is that the Phillies entered with a 91% chance of winning the division; now they are left with 75%. The odds still favor them, but it’s a self-inflicted wound at this point, and fans are tired of these.

“Can you go back to last year’s playoffs and elaborate on that a bit more, Rob?” said a fan. This is because this was not the first or second swap of the Phillies, right? It was the 10th time straight, even, and it goes all the way back to last season, including those last October losses that ended the Phillies’ run. Now the Phillies still have 29 games left, with 17 at Citizens Bank Park, and their postseason way in their hands. But yes, until they learn how to beat the Mets, things will be difficult. Because the most likely situation is that they will host the Mets in a three-game Wild Card Series.

Screaming through the screen came a comment, “MORON !!!!!!” And can you blame the fans? When the manager, after poor gameplay and an embarrassing loss, says, “We gave up a lot of runs in one inning, but we battled back, and hey, the kid was good,” as reported by Michael Barkhann, it’s tough to argue with fans’ clapbacks. For now, all Thomson wants to do is forget this place, forget these last three days, and forget Citi Field.