Phillies Blow 2 Saves But Rally For 6-5 Win Over Cubs
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew Knapp scored on a passed ball in the ninth inning to bolster the Philadelphia Phillies' tenuous playoff push with a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
The Phillies bullpen blew it in the late innings. Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer off Jose Alvarado that tied it 4-all in the eighth. Matt Duffy hit a solo shot off Ian Kennedy (2-1) in the ninth and tied it at 5.
J.T. Realmuto led off the eighth inning with his 15th homer of the season in a topsy-turvy final two innings for a club clinging to playoff aspirations.
Knapp led off the ninth with a single off Trevor Megill (1-2) and advanced to third on a sacrifice and a groundout. Chirinos couldn't get a handle on Megill's knuckle-curve and Knapp scooted home with the winning run.
The Phillies entered 4 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East and three games behind St. Louis in the wild-card race. San Diego and Cincinnati are ahead of the Phillies for the second wild card with 17 games left this season.
Time is running out for the Phillies to make a serious move, yet the schedule remained in their favor: After finishing their three-game set with the Cubs on Thursday, the Phillies play 10 straight games against teams with losing records. Then, a three-game set in Atlanta to close September.
"The interesting thing is that all the other teams are losing, too," Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. "So we're still in this."
Barely.
Alvarado wasted another solid outing by righty Ranger Suarez. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings. He made his 10th start of the season out of 37 appearances and has a 1.50 ERA over 90 innings.
The Phillies have leaned more on Bryce Harper to keep them in the race.
He led off the fourth with a double off Cubs starter Alec Mills and scored when Didi Gregorious hit into a double play. Freddy Galvis added a two-run homer, his 13th, later in the inning for a 3-0 lead.
Suarez gave two back in the fifth when New Jersey native Frank Schwinder — who had a hefty cheering section behind the Cubs dugout — hit a two-run homer that made it 3-2.
Suarez even helped himself when he doubled off Mills in the fifth and scored on Realmuto's single for a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
The Phillies had lost six of seven and eight of 11 overall as part of a late-summer swoon that knocked them out of a short run in first place in the NL East.
Perhaps the Phillies aren't as good as an earlier eight-game winning streak had teased?
"I don't believe that, because we've won with this team," Girardi said before the game. "We have not played well lately. For whatever reason, we've blown some games late. There's been some games where we haven't hit. We've just been scuffling. And we have not been scoring a lot of runs lately. When you don't do that, it's harder to win games."
FRANK THE TANK
Schwinder, from Livingston, N.J., and a St. John's product, seemingly had several dozen fans going wild for him behind the Cubs dugout. At least one row spelled out "Frank the Tank" on the back of their white T-shirts.
TRAINERS'S ROOM
Phillies: Placed RHP Connor Brogdon on the 10-day IL with a right groin strain and recalled RHP Ramón Rosso from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
JUST THE VAX
Girardi said the Phillies have reached an 85% vaccination rate, the percentage needed for relaxed health and safety protocols. That percentage includes players and staff in both the majors and Triple-A. Electronic tracing devices were eliminated.
UP NEXT
The Phillies are expected to throw a bullpen game in the series finale against Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (14-6, 4.54 ERA).