NOT AS BIG A COLLAPSE AS 1964, BUT PHILLIES ARE SURE BLOWING PLAYOFFS!
By Sam Bush
The Phillies lost their fifth straight and dropped into a tie for the National League’s final wild card berth as the Chicago Cubs swept the season series from with a 2-0 victory.
Philadelphia was tied with Milwaukee at 83-72, pending the Brewers’ game against Miami later tonight in the opener of a four-game series.
Seeking their first playoff berth since 2011, the Phillies have lost the first three games of a season-ending 10-game trip and 10 of 13 overall since peaking at a season-best 80-62. Philadelphia has scored three runs or fewer in nine of those 13 games.
The Phillies were 22-29 on June 3 when Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi as manager.
Philadelphia holds the tiebreaker against Milwaukee, winning the season series 4-2. The Phillies go to major league-worst Washington for four games, then close with three at AL-best Houston. The Brewers finish with three games at home against Arizona.
Bryce Harper had three of six hits for the Phillies, who are 1 for their last 21 with runners in scoring position. J.T. Realmuto went 0 for 4 and struck out twice in his 1,000th game.
Rookie Javier Assad (2-2) allowed five hits in five innings as he rebounded from pair of rough outings when he allowed eight runs in six innings. Keegan Thompson gave up one hit over three innings for his second big league save and first this year.
Patrick Wisdom doubled twice and drove in a run and Seiya Suzuki was 2 for 3 as the Cubs completed a three-game sweep in which they limited the Phillies to three runs. Chicago has won eight of nine overall.
Ranger Suárez (10-6) gave up two runs and seven hits in six innings. He had been 4-0 in 12 starts since a June 29 defeat to Atlanta.
Three of Chicago’s first four batters reached. Wisdom’s first double drove in a run in what would have been a bigger rally had Willson Contreras not been out at home on Happ’s chopper to Suárez,
Suzuki tripled with two outs in the fifth when center fielder Brandon Marsh lost his deep fly in the sun and the ball dropped in front of him, inches from his glove. Suzuki scored on Happ’s single.
Happ made a nifty sliding catch of Marsh’s fly at the left side wall for the first out of the ninth.
