Jun 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (10), pitcher Orion Kerkering (50) and shortstop Trea Turner (7) on the mound during the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
The Phillies appeared on their way towards salvaging the final game of a three-game weekend set with the Milwaukee Brewers before a pair of inexcusable defensive plays in the top of the seventh inning doomed them.
Ranger Suárez came back out to start the seventh inning, working with a 2-1 lead. Caleb Durbin led off by hitting a ball into left-center field. It wasn't necessarily an easy play, but it's one that Max Kepler would have almost certainly made. But Weston Wilson — in the lineup because the Phillies were facing a left-handed starter in Jose Quintana — took a terrible route, stumbled a bit and allowed it to drop for a leadoff double.
"That's a ball I should catch, but I just didn't see if off the bat right away," Wilson said. "I got a bad jump. I mean, I heard [Johan] Rojas. We've been trying to talk all day. I don't know if it was what was in the seats behind him. I don't know. I just didn't get a good read. But it's a ball that's gotta be caught."
Suárez was then pulled in favor of Orion Kerkering. To his credit, Kerkering got Joey Ortiz to fly out. Even after walking Brice Turang, Kerkering rolled what looked like it could be an inning-ending double play ball to Edmundo Sosa at third base. But while the Phillies got the out at second base, the Phillies weren't able to double up the speedy Jackson Chourio.
Even still, Kerkering then got William Contreras to roll what should have been a routine ground ball to Trea Turner at shortstop. But instead of it being an inning-ending groundout, the ball ate up Turner, allowing Durbin to score the tying run and the inning to continue.
"I just didn't read the hop great," Turner admitted. "I needed to go backwards probably a half step. Kinda just gave myself a tough hop. Hit me in the wrist and rolled up. It's the difference in the game, gotta make the play."
Trea Turner: “You gotta create your own momentum on some of those plays, and I didn’t do that.”
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/GtGzO0WuIc
Before the frame was out, Jake Bauers gave the Brewers a two-run lead with a double into the right-field corner that plated Chourio and Contreras.
The Brewers scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning, and all three of them were unearned. José Alvarado's 80-game suspension left the Phillies an already-thin bullpen without much margin for error. If the bullpen is asked to get five outs in any inning, the Phillies will almost certainly lose.
And that's what happened Sunday, with the Brewers finishing off a sweep of the Phillies with a 5-2 win thanks in large part to a pair of disastrous plays by Wilson and Turner. The Brewers added an insurance run off of Jordan Romano in the top of the ninth, so perhaps things were headed towards a loss anyway. But it's hard not to think the wheels really came off in the seventh.
In the grand scheme of a 162-game season, days like Sunday will happen. Even after being swept, the Phillies are 36-23. In most late-game situations, Wilson isn't going to be in the outfield anyway, and if not for his misplay to begin the inning, the Phillies probably win Sunday.
But at the risk of beating a dead horse, what's most concerning about Sunday are the continued struggles of Turner at shortstop since joining the Phillies in 2023. Though he actually has two outs above average, Turner entered the day with minus-four defensive runs saved in 2025. He now has five errors this season, giving him 45 since joining the Phillies. And that's in the context of a sport that gives out fewer errors than ever.
So while you can write off an error that contributed heavily to a loss on June 1, it does worry you that a similar miscue will happen in October, at which point it will be much more difficult to overlook.
