How old is too old?

Phillies 6, Giants 4

With the Phillies’ best hitters coming up and the game hanging in the balance, the Giants turned to their lefty specialist.

The assignment was clear: get the most important outs of the night.

He stood poised on the mound, swung his left arm out wide on each pitch, and needed only nine of them to get the job done. Down went Chase Utley. Down went Ryan Howard. Back to the dugout went Javier Lopez, another quiet October day at the office wrapped up.

Fast forward 16 years, the Phillies’ lefties are just as fearsome. And Lopez might still be the Giants’ best option to get them out, one year shy of his 50th birthday.

Instead they tried Ryan Borucki, who’s quickly becoming a main character on this bad TV show. He flipped the game upside down in 10 pitches: four-pitch walk, bases-loaded single, go-ahead double. Game over.

Every bullpen needs to take its lumps—and its losses—to figure out a pecking order. To figure out who stays and who goes. To figure out who can be trusted and when.

You’d just rather not have to do it with the worst record in the National League.

Up next: Robbie Ray takes the mound against the Phillies’ brilliant lefty, a Javier Lopez that can throw a complete game. His name is Cristopher Sánchez. He’ll be slinging the baseball at 6:45 pm. Enjoy the City Connects.