Walker up and down in return from IL as Phils' slump continues

PHILADELPHIA -- Taijuan Walker tried to put it all in perspective.

“It’s a long season,” Walker said. “I know we’ve been saying that, but it’s true. We’ve played really good baseball for a long time. These times are going to happen. I believe that toward the end of the year, and it’s going to be sooner rather than later, we’re going to turn this around.”

Walker allowed two runs in the first inning, which turned out to be all the Marlins needed as they blanked the Phillies, 5-0, at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night. The Phils, who have lost four straight, managed just four hits and made two errors. The Phillies are now 4-7 in August after going 10-14 in July.

Despite the struggles, the Phillies were in agreement that it is not time to panic. That same perspective that Walker displayed was echoed throughout the clubhouse.

“Not worried,” said Kyle Schwarber. “Frustration. We know who we can be and what kind of team we’re going to be. Worried is the wrong kind of word. If you’re worried about where you’re at, that’s not a good thing. Frustration, you can have frustration. That’s a natural thing to have.”

But, some losses are more frustrating than others. Walker made his first start since June 21 -- due to right index finger inflammation -- against against a rebuilding Marlins squad that bore almost no resemblance to the one the Phillies defeated in the NL Wild Card Series last year. The Phillies trailed before they took an at-bat and rarely threatened to score.

“The biggest thing is getting back to the belief of who we are as a team,” Schwarber said. “When you’re going and you’re battling left and right, you try to search for something when the answer is right in front of you. You have that belief in yourself and your team.”

Valente Bellozo, who hadn’t yet made his MLB debut the last time Walker pitched, kept the Phillies off balance all night, throwing seven scoreless innings. The Phillies made a few loud outs -- Bryson Stott took two balls to the warning track -- but otherwise went down quietly.

“You watch that game and you see how everything unfolded,” Schwarber said. “If you’re able to remove yourself and sit back, you can smile and say it’s frustrating. He was keeping the balls off barrels or on barrels and at people. It is what it is.”

Walker, meanwhile, did himself no favors in the first, walking two of the first three batters, both of which came around to score. After a 34-pitch first in which Walker threw more balls than strikes, the Phillies trailed 2-0.

The second inning was much smoother. Walker retired the side on seven pitches, all strikes, highlighted by a three-pitch strikeout in which he finished off Derek Hill by freezing him with a sinker.

Walker said he’d like the first two walks back but was satisfied with the start. His velocity was up and he leaned on the splitter often. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out five over four innings before the bullpen combined for five innings of two-run ball.

The top five hitters in the lineup, meanwhile, combined for just one hit, a single by Bryce Harper in the first inning. Schwarber, the leadoff man, has gone hitless for four straight games.

“Obviously it’s going to come down to us, right?” Schwarber said. “Really digging into each other and really tightening up everything. The game can be great and it can bring you right back down.”

Manager Rob Thomson echoed his players’ sentiments that this too shall pass.

“We’ve been through this before,” Thomson said. “If you look at the numbers on the back of the baseball card … they’re resilient, they’re tough, they care. I think we’re going to -- I know we’re going to -- turn it around.”

That perspective, the confidence that this recent downturn is a bad chapter in a longer story, a “funk” as Walker called it, is why Thomson said he’s hesitant to make any changes to the lineup. Schwarber agreed.

“The group that we have is one of the most talented groups I’ve ever been around,” Schwarber said. “We’ve assembled a really good team and we’ve assembled a really good bunch of dudes, too. That’s why for us like we said, there’s frustration. But I promise you we will be better for it in the end.”