CHICAGO — The Phillies’ Nick Maton stepped up to the plate with two outs in the second inning on Thursday. Jean Segura was on first base. Maton took one pitch, and then another, and then one more, which he tried to bunt, but pulled his bat back.
The scoreboard showed that it was 3-1 on that last pitch, which was out of the zone, so Maton started to walk toward first base, and Segura began to jog to second base. But the scoreboard was wrong, and Segura was tagged out to end the inning.
It was a chaotic, confusing series of events, and the perfect encapsulation of the Phillies’ past six games — all losses, including a 2-0 defeat on Thursday — against the Cubs this season. A team that has won the season series against the Padres and the Dodgers has looked completely off-kilter against a Cubs team that will finish its season with fewer than 80 wins. A Phillies team that has led baseball in scoring with runners in scoring position has suddenly lost the ability to do so. The Phillies’ defense is sloppy, their pitching looks vulnerable, and it’s all happening at the worst possible time, when every game matters as they try to end a 10-year playoff drought.
The Phillies are now tied with the Brewers for the third National League wild-card spot. If the Brewers beat the Marlins on Thursday night, the Phillies will be a half-game back. The Phillies own the tiebreaker with Milwaukee because they won the season series.
The Phillies have prided themselves on being a team that can never be counted out. But against the Cubs, even the smallest leads have seemed insurmountable. For a lineup that features Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto in its first four spots, scoring three or four runs shouldn’t be a big ask. But the Phillies were only able to cobble together six hits on Thursday — all of them singles.
This is a team that is built on its offense. Their slogan entering the season was “Smash the Bell.” But above all else, it is their offense that has failed them down the stretch. The Phillies went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday and 0-for-4 on Thursday. In the sixth inning, they had two on and no outs and failed to score. They haven’t hit a home run since Sunday.
Maton and Segura losing track of the count set the tone for the Phillies loss, but it was hardly their only blunder. In the fifth inning, center fielder Brandon Marsh lost a ball in the sun that put the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki on third base, and he was driven home on an RBI single by Ian Happ. It was the second time Marsh lost a ball in the sun in the past four games.
The Phillies could still make the playoffs, simply by relying on the Brewers to lose. But how do you celebrate a postseason berth that comes as a byproduct of another team’s ineptitude? Does a playoff berth constitute a successful season, no matter how you get there? These are some of the questions the Phillies will face if they don’t do serious damage in their final two series of the regular season, in Washington D.C. beginning on Friday and in Houston.
The energy in the clubhouse is still positive, and that is by design. The Phillies are trying not to press, not to buckle under the pressure of fending off what could be a historic collapse. On Wednesday night, they were blasting reggae. On Thursday morning, it was 90′s R&B. The players did their crossword puzzles, just like do before every game.
It’s not a picture of desperation, and the Phillies have been quick to remind the media that they are in the driver’s seat. But that could change if they don’t start winning soon.
When asked whether there is any more urgency now given that the Phillies are nearing the end of the season, Thomson said Sunday that there is not. He said his team is calm. But even if that’s true, what the Phillies are showing on the field is not a quiet confidence. It’s a quiet collapse.
Suárez has a solid outing
Suárez got off to a bumpy start, giving up two hits and an RBI double to Patrick Wisdom. But with Happ on third base, he tossed the ball to J.T. Realmuto to tag Happ out at home, and induced a lineout in the next at-bat to end the inning.
Suarez allowed four hits and one walk over his next five innings. He finished his day at six innings pitched, allowing seven hits, two earned runs and one walk with five strikeouts. He did run his pitch count up, though. Sanchez threw 92 pitches and 55 strikes.
