Zack Wheeler, Phillies get rocked in loss to Yankees, but Philadelphia isn't panicking amid rough patch
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The dog days of summer have certainly hit the Philadelphia Phillies.
Philadelphia lost the first game of the series for the fifth consecutive time and is mired in a 4-9 stretch that is — by far — the largest skid in a historic regular season. Zack Wheeler gave up seven earned runs in five innings in this latest beatdown, a 14-4 drubbing at the hands of the New York Yankees Monday night.
Wheeler allowed three home runs on the night, all in the first two innings. The backbreaker was Juan Soto's bases-loaded double in the fifth inning that knocked in two runs that put the Yankees up 5-2. Austin Wells followed with a triple to score two more and extend the lead to 7-2.
While Wheeler's ERA went up to 2.94, the Phillies' bats remained cold. Philadelphia scored four runs or fewer for the ninth time in the last 13 games, eight of which have been losses. The Phillies are batting .242 in July, good for 22nd in MLB.
Bryce Harper is hitting .175 this month, while J.T. Realmuto is hitting .143 and Kyle Schwarber is hitting .232. Trea Turner is hitting .303 this month, but he's mired in a 1-for-17 slump.
The Phillies aren't pressing, but they aren't scoring runs and putting themselves in a position to score them, either.
"I don't think there's anyone trying to go out there and do too much," Schwarber said. "It's part of the game where you're going to hit or you're not going to hit. You just got to keep grinding through that process. That's the only thing you can control is work. Guys are coming in here and they're working every single day."
The Phillies are 20-21 since they returned from the London Series in June and 10-12 in July, needing to win their final two games to avoid a losing month for the first time all season. The 65-41 start is still fourth best in franchise history, only trailing the 1976 Phillies (72-34), and the 1993 and 2011 teams (67-39).
Even in a skid in which the Phillies lost nine of 13 games, they aren't in panic mode. They still are 8.5 games up on the Atlanta Braves and nine games up on the New York Mets in the NL East.
"We put ourselves in a pretty good position," Wheeler said. "We're up pretty good right now. We just got to figure it out and start playing a little better all around. We're a really good team, but you can't be really good every time out.
"You'll go through these stretches throughout the season. We don't like it. Fans don't like it. It's part of the game, but we'll figure it out and we'll get back to winning series.
"That's our thing. Win series, and you'll take care of a lot of things."
