They were hoping that trend would change this year as back-to-back division champions and entering the postseason much hotter than they were last season.

Unfortunately, they are off to a bad start after the Los Angeles Dodgers took game one of the NLDS. They were supposed to have an inferior bullpen, but it ended up being the Phillies’ relievers who faltered.

Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani pitched six innings of magnificent baseball, with his only blemish being a three-run second inning.

On the other hand, Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez gave up two runs in just under seven innings, but relief pitchers David Robertson and Matt Strahm blew the game immediately after.

Philadelphia’s manager, Rob Thomson, put Robertson in with one out left in the sixth inning. Miraculously, he got out of it by throwing six pitches all out of the strike zone, only being saved by some poor plate discipline by Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy.

He would walk and hit a batter in the next inning without recording an out, which led to Strahm entering the game. He got two hard-earned outs before surrendering a stadium-silencing three-run home run to outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.