Phillies’ eighth straight loss marks their longest streak since 2018: ‘Not much is going right for us’
An early two-run outburst proved to be the extent of their offense in a 7-2 loss to Chicago on Wednesday. The Phillies now hold the longest active losing streak in baseball.
CHICAGO — Just under 20 minutes after the basement-dwelling Mets eked out a 3-2 victory over the Twins, it became official: the longest active losing streak in baseball belongs to the Phillies.
Their eighth consecutive loss, 7-2 to the Cubs, ended in a fitting manner. With two outs in the ninth, Chicago challenged a ball call on Phillies catcher Rafael Marchán. The automated ball-strike system confirmed that Hoby Milner’s sweeper had clipped the zone, and that the Phillies offense had their 12th strikeout of the night.
They did not draw a single walk.
“Not having much fun in here,” said Trea Turner. “Which is tough. This is a great game. We’re lucky to play it. And when you are expected to win, and you want to win, and it’s not happening, it’s tough and not fun.”
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Phillies manager Rob Thomson made some lineup adjustments heading into Wednesday’s game in an attempt to stop the slide. He moved Turner to second in the order, replacing him at leadoff with Kyle Schwarber.
The Phillies saw plenty of success in 2024 with Schwarber as their unconventional leadoff man, and Thomson thought going back to that model could spark something. But Schwarber finished 0-for-4. So did Bryce Harper, who remained in the No. 3 spot as the designated hitter.
“I think there’s a lot of frustration here,” Thomson said. “But at the same time, these guys know that we got a talented group. Not much is going right for us right now, and at times we’re not playing well, so we just got to stay after it and keep fighting.”
The plan to use Kyle Backhus as an opener for starter Taijuan Walker didn’t work out, either. The Cubs found gaps with consecutive ground ball singles off Backhus in the first, and scored a run on an RBI force out to take an early 1-0 lead.
Using an opener was the Phillies’ latest strategy to try and overcome Walker’s first-inning struggles so far this year. But it didn’t help him limit hard contact.
Five of the Cubs’ eight hits off of Walker across the four innings he pitched were harder than 95 mph off the bat. That included two home runs: a solo shot from Michael Busch in the third, and a two-run homer from Seiya Suzuki in the fifth.
“I think at the end of the day, I just didn’t do my job again,” Walker said. “Try to attack more and execute. Get ahead and just do my job.”
Walker was charged with four earned runs. An unearned run scored in the second inning when Justin Crawford dropped a fly ball in shallow center field. Crawford made a long run in towards the ball, which glanced off his glove for his first error in the majors.
Miguel Amaya wound up on second base, and scored easily when Walker gave up a double to the next batter.
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“He called it too early, and got [second baseman Edmundo] Sosa out of there,” Thomson said. “And really, that’s Sosa’s ball. And I think that just comes with experience, playing in this ballpark, with the wind. And you got to really make sure that you get there. And he just called it a little bit early.”
Thomson said the Phillies haven’t yet discussed a plan for Walker going forward with Zack Wheeler on the verge of returning to the rotation on Saturday. Walker, who has a 9.13 ERA this season, is a likely candidate to move to the bullpen.
“Tomorrow, I’ll keep doing the work and keeping doing what I have to do,” Walker said.
There was some optimism for the Phillies offense early. In the second inning, the Phillies snapped an 0-for-26 slump with runners in scoring position when Sosa ripped a double to drive in Felix Reyes from second. But that proved to be their only one of the night.
Alec Bohm, who has been scuffling badly this season, collected two singles to raise his batting average to .146. Both his hits came in two-strike counts. He scored the Phillies’ other run in the second inning on an RBI groundout from Crawford.
“The line drive to right field was really good to see,” Thomson said. “Hitting behind the runner. Hopefully that’s the start of a good swing.”
Alan Rangel, who had been recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday to help reset the Phillies’ taxed bullpen, pitched three innings to finish the game. The Cubs tacked on another run in the eighth on a single and a double.
Over the losing streak, which is the Phillies’ longest since 2018, the Phillies have been outscored 56-16.
“We got to keep the line moving at the plate,” Turner said. “I feel like we get one guy on base and then the inning kind of dies for whatever reason. That’s just not good enough.”
In Trea Turner and Justin Crawford, the Phillies have two of baseball's fastest players at the top and bottom of their batting order. It's a baserunning coach's dream. Paco Figueroa sat down with "Phillies Extra" to discuss his philosophy on baserunning and how the Phillies might be able to leverage the elite speed of Turner and Crawford to boost an offense that has struggled to score runs early in the season. Watch here.
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