Phillies’ offense shut down in 2-0 loss to Cardinals – NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS – It doesn’t matter how hard you throw ball four.

That old baseballism seemed appropriate Tuesday night as the Phillies suffered a 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at steamy Busch Stadium.

Right-hander Alex McFarlane, called up from Triple A earlier in the day, took the loss after allowing the game’s first run in the bottom of the seventh.

McFarlane began his second big-league appearance with a six-pitch walk to Jordan Walker. The final pitch – ball four – registered 100.7 mph on the radar gun. Walker nonetheless trotted to first base, stole second on the next pitch and scored on a two-out base hit by Masyn Winn. Winn stroked a 100.2 mph sinker to right field.

While McFarlane took the loss, the defeat was hardly his fault. The Phillies’ offense was putrid behind Cristopher Sanchez, who pitched six shutout innings. It produced just five hits and was 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. The Phils left eight men on base and grounded into four double plays, including two by Bryce Harper.

“We had chances,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I liked our at-bats. We’re still putting pressure on guys, but tonight the double plays hurt us.”

The double play that hurt most came in the top of the eighth inning when Luis Arraez, batting with the bases loaded and no outs, grounded sharply into a 3-2-3 double play. J.T. Realmuto then flied out to center.

Arraez, a three-time batting champ who joined the Phillies at the trade deadline last week, is hitless in his last 16 at-bats. Through a team official, he declined to speak with reporters after the game.

“No doubt, he’s the guy you want up there in those spots all the time,” Mattingly said. “You know he’s going to put it in play. He hit it hard, but it was right at that guy.”

St. Louis right-hander Andrew Pallante matched Sanchez with six shutout innings. Sanchez gave up just four hits, no walks and struck out seven. Mattingly lifted him at just 89 pitches.

“I didn’t want to pull Cristopher but checking with him after the inning, he was done,” Mattingly said. “I don’t know if it was the heat. The pitch count was OK, but tonight he was done. You could see it. We talked to him, asked how he was. He was done.”

It was 95 degrees during batting practice at Busch Stadium. The game time temperature was 91 and the humidity was oppressive. After the game, medical personnel was in the Phillies’ clubhouse reminding players to hydrate ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s series finale.

“It was very uncomfortable, but we can’t use that as an excuse,” said Sanchez. “I’ll never say I was out of gas, but he’s the manager and we made a mutual decision.”

After the Phillies came up small in the top of the eighth, the Cardinals went up 2-0 on a solo homer by Everson Pereira against Tim Mayza in the bottom of the inning. Earlier in the game, Pereira stole extra bases from Alec Bohm with a tremendous catch against the center field wall for the first out in the fifth. Bohm actually thought the ball left the yard. He saluted the bullpen before realizing Pereira made the catch.

Bohm’s drive to the wall typified the frustration the Phillies hitters felt. The ball traveled 399 feet and would have been out of 17 of 30 major-league parks, according to Statcast. Realmuto’s ball to end the top of the eighth traveled 396 feet and would have been out of 19 parks, according to Statcast.

The frustration included Justin Crawford scorching a 105-mph line drive to right to end the top of the seventh. Walker made the catch with two men on base to end the frame and Crawford, uncharacteristically, fired his helmet to the ground.

“I don’t think we’re feeling that much frustration, honestly,” Mattingly said. “I think that was just the frustration of lining out. If that ball is in the gap, it’s two runs. Justin does everything right there. He wins the at-bat and doesn’t get anything for it. You can’t ask for a better at-bat.”

Harper returned to right field after serving as the designated hitter in Monday night’s series opener. He confirmed what Mattingly revealed on Monday: He is dealing with some left knee soreness, which first started on a slide into second during the last series before the All-Star break in Detroit. Harper said the soreness had cooled down before cropping up again after his move to the outfield last week.

“It’s not to the point where it’s, ‘Oh, crap,’ “ he said. “I can still play. I can manage it.”

Harper has played in all of the team’s 121 games.

Tuesday night’s loss opened the door for San Diego to pull into a tie with the Phils for the last NL wild-card spot, though the Phils hold the tie-breaker over the Padres. Regardless, the Phils need a win Wednesday to salvage a series split with the Cardinals. It’s supposed to be another hot one in St. Louis when Zack Wheeler takes the mound.