Phillies fall to the Cubs again after Aaron Nola’s woeful fifth; wild-card lead down to half-game

CHICAGO — In the third inning against the Cubs Wednesday night, Kyle Schwarber took off from second base and stole third, setting himself up to score on a sacrifice fly. He jokingly tipped his cap to the dugout, and went on to score on Bryce Harper’s fly to left field to give the Phillies team an early lead.

It was a smart baseball move, and had the potential to set a more positive tone for the Phillies in what was a must-win game against a team that who entered with a 68-86 record. But instead, the Phillies reverted to their old ways and lost 4-2 because they failed to score with runners in scoring position and because Aaron Nola gave up four runs in the fifth inning. The Phillies have now lost all five games they’ve played against the Cubs this season.

They’ve lost their last four games, and their lead in the race for the final National League wild card dwindled to a half-game over Milwaukee after the Brewers’ 5-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Just because we’re down to this last road trip, and we’re pushing for a wild-card spot, we can’t let those thoughts into the head,” Schwarber said. “We have to have the same thoughts we’ve had for pretty much the whole year — where we fight, scratch and claw to win a baseball game. That’s what we’re going to have to keep doing.

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“I feel like we’re doing a pretty good job of keeping thoughts out of the head of getting to the postseason, or looking at a scoreboard. It’s in our control. And we’re going to have to get back to fight, scratch and clawing. Everyone’s got the right mindset. And we just have to keep going.”

Initially, it looked like Aaron Nola, who entered the game with a 2.08 ERA for September, was headed toward another good start. He cruised through his first four innings, allowing just one hit on 53 pitches, and 37 strikes, but he hit a wall in the fifth inning.

Nola started the inning by allowing a single to Nico Hoerner, and from there, allowed another single to Patrick Wisdom. A force play scored Hoerner. Then Nola hit Alfonso Rivas with a pitch and gave up a three-run home run to Christopher Morel, who is quickly establishing himself as a Phillie killer.

Nola bounced back in the sixth inning after striking out two hitters and inducing a groundout, but the damage had been done. He slammed his glove down in frustration when he reached the dugout.

“It was missed location,” Nola said of that fifth inning. “Two base hits and then I got the groundball ... got 3-2 on Morel but missed my location pretty good right there. He put a pretty good swing on it.”

Nola finished his night at six innings, five hits, four runs, no walks and eight strikeouts while falling to 10-13.

The Phillies had their opportunities to score. They collected 11 hits and drew two walks. But the went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Their best chances came in the the fourth, in the seventh and in the eighth innings. In the fourth, Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanos and Jean Segura singled to load the bases with one out. But Bryson Stott popped out, and Schwarber grounded out to end the inning.

In the seventh, Schwarber doubled and Rhys Hoskins singled to put runners on first and third. Harper drove in Schwarber with a groundout to cut the Cubs’ lead to 4-2, but J.T. Realmuto lined out and Bohm struck out to end the threat.

In the eighth, Castellanos and Segura singled to put runners on first and second with one out. But pinch hitter Matt Vierling struck out, and so did Schwarber.

This is a team that has prided itself on its ability to fight, no matter what situation, and a three-run or two-run deficit should not seem insurmountable. But the Phillies’ offense has looked lifeless this series.

Schwarber said it’s not a matter of pressing at the plate.

“I think it’s just more of just that we didn’t execute,” he said. “We’re not going up there and I don’t think anyone is telling themselves we have to get a hit, because I don’t think that’s the right mindset to have. We’re just trying to get a pitch to handle and put the barrel on the ball. And it’s been one of those little funks right now. Obviously, we don’t want it to be happening right now. We’re going to have to find a way out of it.

“Obviously, we’re not happy with what’s going on. We want to score runs. Nola did his thing, he kept us in the game for six innings, he had that one inning, but we still had opportunities, and we’re going to have to capitalize on those. It’s kind of chalked up to we just couldn’t get it done today. And we’ve got an opportunity to get it done tomorrow, and that’s what we’re going to have to do. Learn from it, flip the switch, try to win a game tomorrow and go from there.”

If you’re looking for some positive Phillies news, Nick Castellanos went 3-for-4 in his second game back since he was activated off of the injured list.