Zack Wheeler allowed four earned runs in a loss against (Logan Gehman/Phillies Nation)
For the first time this season, the Phillies have lost back-to-back starts with their two aces, Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler, on the mound. The Phillies dropped Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 with Sánchez pitching and lost 7-1 in the Wednesday finale with Wheeler on the mound.
The Phillies did not get the length they needed from Wheeler, who gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings on a blistering hot day in St. Louis. Wheeler entered the fifth inning with his pitch count at 49 and only a run allowed on his ledger. He allowed a leadoff single, then recorded two outs using a total of 17 pitches. The Cardinals went on to bring eight men to the plate, scoring four runs with two outs on four straight hits.
Wheeler left the mound with his pitch count at 84. Both Sánchez and Wheeler threw fewer than 90 pitches in their starts against the Cardinals, hitting a wall at the same time. After getting a win from the No. 5 spot for the first time since May on Monday, the Phillies have lost two out of three against St. Louis.
With their two best arms running on fumes, the offense couldn’t produce. They scored only one run over the last two games against the Cardinals. The lone Phillies run came on a Luis Arraez RBI double. With that hit, Arraez broke an 0-for-16. After the Arraez double in the fourth, the Phillies recorded only one hit on an Alec Bohm single.
The bullpen, depleted after shouldering a heavy workload in the month of August, had to work to finish the game. Brooks Raley, José Alvardo and Chase Shugart combined to throw 55 pitches over the last three innings.
The Phillies will fly to Iowa in the morning and hope things go a little better on Thursday night at the Field of Dreams game in Dyersville against the Minnesota Twins. If the San Diego Padres win their game today against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies (64-58) will be out of an NL playoff spot.
