PHILADELPHIA — Jordan Romano says his right arm felt the best it had in a long time — the two-time all-star closer even hit 99.8 m.p.h. on a four-seam fastball.
The Marlins just hit him — rocked him, actually — much, much harder.
The Phillies’ eight-inning rout turned close in the ninth once Romano was summoned to close out an 11-4 lead. Dane Myers instead hit a three-run homer, Graham Pauley added an RBI double and Liam Hicks added a two-run shot — his first big-league homer — and suddenly it was 11-10.
Romano, already in the midst of a rough first season in Philly, was heavily booed Saturday as he trudged off the mound.
“Kind of expect that when you’re pitching like that, for sure,” Romano said.
Romano was charged with six runs and retired just two batters in the ninth before José Alvarado bailed him out and got the final out of the 11-10 win for his fifth save.
Romano’s ERA ballooned to 15.26 in nine games this season.
“I felt confident, honestly, in all my pitches,” Romano said. “I don’t know, they were seeing it really well today. Everything I threw in there, I felt like they were pretty comfortable with. Obviously, putting pretty good swings on it.”
After a slow start to the season, Romano thought he might have solved his mechanical issues when he adjusted the leg lift on his delivery. Romano was left to wonder after he gave up six hits on just 22 pitches if perhaps he’s tipping his pitches. He said he’d watch the video to find out if there’s another flaw in his delivery.
“Usually, I don’t (watch video), when it’s just a blooper or something like that,” Romano said. “But when they’re putting that good a swings on it, for sure.”
Manager Rob Thomson said the Phillies will conduct a deeper dive to determine whether Romano is tipping his pitches.
“He’s got a great track record,” Thomson said. “As long as his stuff is good, you’ve got to believe in him.”
An All-Star in 2022 and 2023, Romano spent the first six seasons of his major league career with the Toronto Blue Jays. He had 105 saves and a 2.90 ERA in 231 relief appearances with Toronto. The Phillies declined to re-sign former All-Star relievers Carlos Estévez and Jeff Hoffman and instead made a short-term bet on Romano with an $8.5 million, one-year contract.
Hoffman signed with the Blue Jays and entered Saturday 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA, 16 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings and five saves.
The 31-year-old Romano was limited to just eight saves in 15 games last season. He had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow in July but has been healthy with the Phillies.
“What’s honestly crazy to me is like, I went out there and executed what I wanted to do,” Romano said. “It’s just the worst result possible. I wanted to drive the zone with my heater, throw the slider in there for strikes. I did that. Just got crushed.”
