Joe Flacco had a great start to his Browns career against the Rams, scoring a touchdown pass on the team’s first drive. But on Sunday, he and the Browns lost, 36-19, so it wasn’t enough to win.
Flacco gained 254 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception on 23 of 44 passes completed. Late in the game, he was also sacked for a safety in the end zone.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who missed the game due to a concussion he sustained against the Broncos in Denver a week prior, was replaced by Flacco.
It has been a frustrating season for us up until this point, as we feel that our club has not played up to its capabilities,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a statement. “While all of us share the responsibility for the shortcomings, I felt that a change was needed and that a new voice in the clubhouse would give us the best chance to turn things around. I believe we have a talented group that can get back on track, and I am confident that Rob, with his experience and familiarity with our club, is the right man to lead us going forward.
Girardi’s first year with Philadelphia was the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Phillies went 82-80 last year and he ends his tenure with a 132-141 record. Girardi managed the New York Yankees from 2008-17 and the Florida Marlins in 2006.
The Phillies have lost 12 of 17 games heading into the opener of Friday’s three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
“We underperformed and that falls on me. This is what happens,” Girardi told SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio. “I think there’s more talent in that room than the way we have played.
The Phillies have a $224 million payroll and boast 2021 NL MVP Bryce Harper and NL Cy Young Award runner-up Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto and free-agent sluggers Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber. Yet Philadelphia hasn’t made the playoffs since 2011, hasn’t won the World Series since 2008 and has watched fan interest plummet through a decade-plus of mediocre baseball.
Harper has been plagued most of the season with right forearm soreness and was forced to give up right field and play designated hitter. Second baseman Jean Segura is out for up to three months with a fractured right index finger. The Phillies are 12-15 at home and are 4-10 in one-run games. They are 3-7 over their last 10 games
In all honesty, I believe we should have been 7-3. Girardi remarked, “Well, that will fall on me because we weren’t.” “I just hope they improve and advance to the postseason.”
A collapsing bullpen, defensive lapses, and sluggish starts from some of their expensive veterans proved fatal for the Phillies (Schwarber is batting.192). The least memorable game was an 8-7 loss on May 5 at home against the New York Mets after they squandered a six-run deficit in the ninth inning. The previous 330 times the Mets trailed by six runs in the ninth inning, they had lost.
“I believe there are several reasons why we were unable to win. We may have lost four or five games because we gave out too many extra outs.
