Phillies’ slide continues as Yankees tag Cristopher Sánchez for six runs to complete sweep

Christopher Sánchez likes pitching at Citizens Bank Park. Entering Wednesday, the Phillies starter hadn’t allowed a home run there this season.

It was a streak that lasted 73⅓ innings until the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu emphatically ended it with a grand slam in the second inning of a 6-5 Phillies loss. The Phillies dropped their fourth straight, have been swept for the first time this season, and are 3-9 since the All-Star break.

“You don’t want to play from behind or not win series, because baseball is all about winning a series, being hot at the right time, and doing things the right way,” Bryce Harper said. “I can say that we haven’t really been playing good baseball on both sides of the ball. Guys on base, things like that. Pretty sloppy as well. I think we all know that as a team.”

Once again, the top of the order fell short. Harper finished 0-for-5 and hit into a game-ending double play. Harper finished the six-game homestand 1-for-25.

“I’m going through it,” he said. “It just is what it is, just try to bail out of it as best I can. I felt like my at-bats were better today. I saw a lot of pitches, so that’s good.”

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The grand slam was only the second home run of the season for LeMahieu, whose playing time with the Yankees dwindled after extended struggles at the plate. But after Sánchez allowed singles to Giancarlo Stanton and Jazz Chisholm Jr. and walked Alex Verdugo, LeMahieu cashed in on a slider inside.

“I have to execute that,” Sánchez said through a team interpreter. “I missed it there, and I paid for it, too.”

After falling behind early, the Phillies didn’t put a runner on base until the fourth inning, when Kyle Schwarber drew a walk against Nestor Cortes.

Austin Hays, batting second after Tuesday’s four-RBI night, stayed hot with a double to the left-field wall. A fielder’s choice from Alec Bohm brought Schwarber home, and Hays scored on a Nick Castellanos single.

The Phillies continued to chip away at the Yankees’ lead but couldn’t complete the comeback. Weston Wilson, who started the game at second base, clubbed a solo home run in the fifth. Bohm hit a sixth-inning triple and was driven home by Castellanos. The pair combined for another run in the eighth, stringing together a Bohm double and a Castellanos single.

Bryson Stott singled, and Garrett Stubbs was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Brandon Marsh, but he struck out swinging.

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“I thought the fight was good today,” manager Rob Thomson said. “We got down four, kept scratching, coming back, scratching.”

New Phillies bullpen acquisitions Tanner Banks and Carlos Estévez both pitched 1-2-3 innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively.

The Phillies will travel west for three games beginning Friday in Seattle, followed by three in Los Angeles against the Dodgers and four in Arizona.