Phillies are shut out in series-opening loss at the St. Louis Cardinals
The Phillies managed just three hits and were shut out for the first time since last Aug. 28.
ST. LOUIS — Sleepless in St. Louis?
More like scoreless in St. Louis.
Nobody actually said it because, well, it would’ve reeked of excuse-making. And because there’s no crying in baseball. But after arriving at their downtown hotel at 4 a.m. Friday, the Phillies played like zombies, falling 2-0 to the Cardinals in the opener of a three-game series.
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“I don’t take that into consideration, really,” manager Rob Thomson said after the Phillies mustered three hits and were blanked for the first time since last Aug. 28 against the Astros. “I mean, you’ve got to come out here and play.”
Even after pulling an all-nighter.
To recap: The Phillies didn’t trudge off the field in Atlanta, after a rain-interrupted, 11-inning marathon loss, until 12:53 a.m. Friday. They gained an hour in the air but still didn’t touch down until about 3:30 a.m. Central time. It was pushing 4:30 a.m. when they arrived at their hotel.
But they weren’t about to get sympathy the Cardinals, who lost five of their previous six games. If anything, right-hander Andre Pallante preyed on the Phillies’ sleepy bats with a fastball that had cutting action.
“I feel like it’s a unique fastball,” Kyle Schwarber said. “It’s kind of a high release. He didn’t really miss out over the plate. Everything was on the inner third or in. It’s got that downward angle with some cut. You’re either going to sell out and try to get under it, or you’re going to leave yourself exposed to some other things.”
Meanwhile, Aaron Nola lacked his typically precise command and weaved in and out of trouble for five innings. He finally yielded two runs in the fifth, one of which came on only the second bases-loaded walk of his career.
To Nola, it felt every bit as unfamiliar as it was.
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“Back in the dugout, I didn’t think I had ever done that before,” Nola said. “It [stinks] to walk a guy, for sure. That inning really got away from me.”
Like everyone else, Nola wasn’t sharp. He sidestepped a leadoff walk in the first and third innings. In the second, he wiggled free from a two-on, nobody-out situation. But he also threw 19 pitches in one inning, 18 in another, and 30 in the Cardinals’ long fifth inning, which included an RBI double by No. 9-hitting backup catcher Yohel Pozo.
Nola looked … dare we say it, sleepy.
“I feel like they were kind of battle walks,” Nola said. “I felt like a couple of them I wasn’t missing by too much. Overall, stuff felt pretty good.”
Thomson got some sleep after the Phillies got into town. And when he awoke, he rearranged the batting order.
Schwarber previously led off against right-handed pitching. But after the Braves intentionally walked Bryce Harper twice with runners in scoring position Thursday night — and with Alec Bohm (four hits in his last 43 at-bats) and Nick Castellanos struggling behind him — Thomson moved Schwarber to the cleanup spot to serve as a deterrent for walking Harper. (Bryson Stott moved into the leadoff spot.)
Schwarber, who has batted everywhere in the lineup in his career, said he feels like “there isn’t any weight” batting behind Harper. And the back-to-back lefty sluggers do give opposing pitchers a lot to think about.
“It’s very challenging, for sure,” Nola said. “The idea is that you give Harper some protection. If you’re facing Harper, do you challenge him more knowing that Schwarber is behind him? I mean, what do you do there? I don’t know.”
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In the first inning, it looked like it might work, too.
Harper drew a two-out walk before Schwarber lined a hard single to right field. They pulled off a double steal, and with runners on second and third, Castellanos smoked a 104-mph line drive.
One problem: It was hit to right fielder Jordan Walker.
“Really good baseball play there to get two guys in scoring position,” Schwarber said. “Nick hits a rocket, and it’s inning-ending.”
The Phillies put only one other runner in scoring position, but Brandon Marsh got stranded at third base in the fifth inning when Stott struck out.
Although the new alignment didn’t yield any runs, Thomson said he likely would stick with it Saturday when the Phillies face Cardinals righty Miles Mikolas.
“Oh sure,” Thomson said. “Yeah. I don’t think you pull the cord on that [after one game].”
A little sleep might help, too.