Phillies' Sean O'Sullivan discusses worst outing since 2011
After two solid outings in a row, Philadelphia Phillies righty Sean O'Sullivan lapsed on Wednesday, serving up his worst performance in four years in a 7-0 loss to the New York Mets in which he was tagged for all of the Mets' runs.
O'Sullivan approached Wednesday afternoon surrendering a total of two earned runs in his last two starts, winning his first game of the season with a six-inning scoreless outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 17.
The 27-year-old right-hander fell well short of his second win on Wednesday, though.
O'Sullivan got in trouble early in the game, serving up a 425-foot solo home run to Mets first baseman Lucas Duda in the first inning.
He would give up a total of four home runs on the day, including another bomb to Duda and even a solo homer to pitcher Noah Syndergaard, giving up a collective seven earned runs on the day.
The outing marked O'Sullivan's worst since May 28, 2011, when he surrendered career worsts of 15 hits, 10 earned runs, and five homers to the Texas Rangers.
"Everything felt real flat from the get-go," O'Sullivan said of Wednesday's start. "I knew it was going to be one of those days when I'd have to grind out at-bats. Our bullpen has been pretty taxed lately, so I kind of had to bite the bullet."
Even though he remained in the game through his shellacking, O'Sullivan only lasted 5.2 innings.
The bullpen was able to stop the bleeding, allowing only one hit in 2.1 innings' work after O'Sullivan allowed 11 hits, but the Phillies couldn't get anything going with their bats and were overwhelmed by a dominant effort on the mound by Syndergaard.
(h/t MLB.com)
Photo credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images
