NEW YORK – The Phillies’ offense has struggled in recent weeks so it was a positive sign that the team stroked 14 hits and scored five runs on Saturday night. The Phils also did not make any errors, another positive considering the way they’ve handled the baseball all season.

So, what was the final score of this much-needed Phillies’ victory?

Hello.

Anybody home?

The Phils were not able to turn all that offense and the clean defense into a win. They suffered one of their most disappointing — and probably damaging — defeats of the season in a 10-5 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field (see First Take).

The loss puts the Phils another game behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. The Braves, who beat the Diamondbacks, 5-4 in 10 innings, now lead the division by 3 ½ games. The Phils have 21 games left. They have not won a series since August 2-5 and are 11-19 since then with a date with Cy Young favorite Jacob deGrom looming Sunday afternoon.

Rule No. 1 of starting pitching is Keep Your Team in the Game.

Zach Eflin was not able to do that Saturday night.

The right-hander was tagged for six runs — as many as he gave up in five starts during his brilliant month of June — in three innings of work. Eflin gave up a three-run double to Tomas Nido (after a walk and a hit batsman) in the second inning and a three-run homer to Todd Frazier in the third. Both of those big hits came on sliders. Eflin also allowed a triple in the third inning on a slider.

Eflin mowed down the Mets 1-2-3 in the first inning. He featured a power fastball in that inning then started using more of his secondary stuff after Jay Bruce led off the bottom of the second inning with a single.

“I got away from my fastball after that,” Eflin said. “I was really relying on other pitches I shouldn't have been relying on when my fastball was as good as it was in the first inning. With Bruce getting that single, I kind of felt like I needed to pitch a little differently, get a ground ball. Just one of those things. You're so locked into a game and you start developing either a good habit or a bad habit and tonight it was a bad habit. I really need to rely on my fastball more. I think I got away from that in the past couple outings.

“I'm going to continue to work my tail off and be ready for my next outing.”

Yes, there will be a next outing for Eflin. Over his last five starts, he has given up 36 hits and 20 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings for a 7.71 ERA. The Phillies are in a pennant race. They need more than that. After the game, manager Gabe Kapler was asked if he would re-evaluate Eflin’s place in the rotation.

“We have nothing but confidence in Eflin,” Kapler said. “Eflin is going to go out there and make his next start and I would not be surprised if we rode him into the end of September.”

During his brilliant month of June — he went 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA in five starts — Eflin attacked hitters with a good, four-seam fastball. Kapler wants to see him get back to that.

“When he is at his best, he is attacking the strike zone even at the expense of attacking the middle of the strike zone,” Kapler said. “I actually think that’s what makes him a good major-league pitcher is his willingness to go after every hitter in the lineup.

“I really believe that is what will take Eflin and also in some ways (Nick) Pivetta and (Vince) Velasquez and create monsters, guys who are untouchable. All three of their stuff is so special and so tremendous and they all have such athletic deliveries that when they get command to be able to move the ball around, all three have the opportunity to be special.”

Eflin’s struggles over the last five starts have coincided with his controversial “demotion” to the minors last month. Management sent him down briefly so the team could carry an extra position player. Eflin did not miss a start in the majors. Though he was not happy about the demotion when it happened, Eflin later said he understood what the team was trying to do. After Saturday night’s loss, he would not blame his recent struggles on the episode.

“It hasn’t affected me at all,” Eflin said.

OK. Jerad Eickhoff is still working his way back after an injury-riddled season and the pitchers at Triple A have pretty much reached their innings limits. The Phils don’t have many options to replace Eflin in the rotation even if they wanted to. The Phils are sticking with him. He needs to do a better job keeping his team in the game next time. Because a 14-hit performance by the offense is a terrible thing to waste.

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