Philadelphia Phillies Bullpen Continues Concerning Stretch

The Philadelphia Phillies own a comfortable lead in the NL Wild Card standings. They hold the first place spot and are two-and-a-half games clear of the Chicago Cubs who sit in the second spot.

After making a surprising run to the World Series last season, there are expectations that the Phillies could get back there again this year with the addition of Trea Turner during the offseason.

With him performing the best he has all year, the Philadelphia lineup is living up the hype. However, there are major concerns that the bullpen will hold the Phillies back from reaching their goal of winning their first World Series title since 2008.

On Sunday, they lost a series to the Miami Marlins after more late inning runs crossed the plate.

After a gem from starter Ranger Suarez through six innings, he gave up two runs on a double in the seventh. Rob Thomson went to reliever Matt Strahm, who was credited with the loss on Friday after giving up a late home run.

Sunday was similar for Strahm, who inherited Suarez's runner. A single tied up the game at three as the lefty couldn't get out the inning.

Seranthony Dominguez was credited with the loss Sunday after giving up a two-run homer in the eighth inning. That comes on the heels of the massive struggles that the right hander has had this season.

In his last seven appearances, he has an ERA of 5.68 in 6.1 innings pitched, giving up seven hits during this period.

Dominguez and Strahm will be major pieces out of the bullpen moving forward. Getting them back to being high level pitchers is extremely important if they want to make a deep postseason run.

The bullpen continues to be something that needs to be monitored down the final stretch of the regular season.