The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to struggle a little bit. After back-to-back losses to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, they have lost their grip on the third National League wild card spot. St. Louis took this opportunity to play the role of spoiler against the playoff-hopeful Phillies.
Philadelphia won the series opener on Monday night and had Christopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler lined up for the final two games of the series. However, the offense went quiet for the Phils.
Tanner Hendrickson of 101 ESPN St. Louis noted that the Phillies reached an unfortunate first with Sanchez and Wheeler pitching this season.
“This is the first time all season the Phillies have lost back-to-back games in which Sanchez and Wheeler start,” Hendrickson posted on X.
Philadelphia Phillies Reach Unfortunate First in Series Loss to St. Louis Cardinals
The Phillies got off to a rough start this season and ultimately fired now former manager Rob Thomson, replacing him with Don Mattingly. For the most part, Philadelphia has played quite well since “Donnie Baseball” took over for Thomson.
However, they hit a bit of a snag this week in St. Louis, and they ultimately have now lost control of their wild card spot. They are still very close in the race, so they ultimately are not in a spot in which they need to panic.
But against a non-contender like St. Louis, having Sanchez and Wheeler on the mound in back-to-back games should have given them a big advantage. While Sanchez pitched very well on Tuesday night, going six scoreless innings, Wheeler struggled.
The Cardinals touched Wheeler for five runs over five innings on Wednesday afternoon and ultimately handed him the loss as they won the series.
But in series such as this one, the Phillies needed Sanchez and Wheeler to kick the Cardinals while they were down. The majority of the time this season, they have done quite well when the two aces pitch in back-to-back games, and that normally leaves them with an advantage.
However, that was not the case in St. Louis this week, and now the Phillies are looking at trying to get back on track in a crucial series against the Minnesota Twins over the weekend.
The Phillies are not doomed, but they still reached an unfortunate first with their two aces on the mound, and they reached that threshold while playing a team that is out of contention for all intents and purposes.
Philadelphia Phillies Face Threat in NL Wild Card Race
The Phillies currently have the same record as the Arizona Diamondbacks, but by virtue of trailing the season series, Philadelphia is behind Arizona in the wild card race. The red-hot San Diego Padres have also jumped over them, and the Miami Marlins are just 1 1/2 games back of the final spot.
There is going to be a lot of competition for the final spot down the stretch, so it will be interesting to see if the Phillies can get back on track and claim one of the final three spots.
Phillies Reach Unfortunate First With Zack Wheeler, Christopher Sanchez