CHICAGO — Just like the Phillies don’t have much room for error in their postseason chase, they didn’t have much room for error on Tuesday night. Starter Marcus Stroman, who has pitched well against them in his career, was on the mound for the Cubs. Starter Zack Wheeler and the Phillies’ bullpen only allowed two runs on the night, but the Phillies lineup didn’t provide the run support to overcome it, in a 2-1 loss.
Good outing from Wheeler
Zack Wheeler cruised through his second outing since he was activated off the 15-day injured list on Tuesday night. He need only eight pitches to get through the first inning, and seven to get through the second inning. He was at 27 pitches by the end the third inning, 36 by the end of the fourth inning and 46 by the end of the fifth.
It was the sixth inning when Wheeler started to show fatigue. His velocity began dip to a bit and his command started to waver. After striking out Christopher Morel — who had hit a solo home run off of Wheeler in the bottom of the third — Wheeler allowed a walk, then a single before inducing a grounder that ended in double play.
All in all, it was another encouraging outing from Wheeler, who went six innings, allowing five hits, one earned run (the Morel solo home run), and one walk with five strikeouts. Wheeler finished his night at only 62 pitches, and 43 strikes. To put that in perspective, Cubs starter Marcus Stroman finished his night at 97 pitches through seven innings.
Bats stay quiet
The bats were largely quiet on Tuesday night. The Phillies had trouble doing damage off of Stroman, which makes sense, given how he’s pitched against them this season. Stroman entered Tuesday’s game with a 1.50 ERA against Phillies this season, and 2.49 ERA against them in 11 career outings.
He allowed only four hits and one earned run through seven innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. Bryce Harper accounted for the earned run off Stroman, lining an RBI double that traveled 354 feet and came off of his bat at 106.3 mph that scored Bryson Stott in the sixth inning to tie the game.
The Phillies didn’t fare much better after Stroman came out of the game. Cubs reliever Brandon Hughes allowed just one walk in the eighth inning, and the Phillies recorded no hits off Manuel Rodriguez in the ninth inning.
Chris Devenski makes his Phillies debut
Thomson called on reliever Chris Devenski to pitch in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies signed Devenski to a minor league contract on Aug. 29, and selected his contract on Sept. 25. In his first outing, the right-handed reliever allowed no hits, runs or walks in one inning of work.
