ST. LOUIS — The Phillies faced Sonny Gray for a brief 65 pitches on Tuesday night but struggled to hit him or any of the Cardinals‘ relievers, falling 3-0.
They left runners stranded throughout another lackluster offensive performance and also lost J.T. Realmuto to a neck contusion. Realmuto was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the seventh after being struck in the throat by a bouncing curveball from Zack Wheeler.
It’s uncertain if Realmuto will be available for Wednesday’s game, but with the quick turnaround (1:15 p.m. ET), Garrett Stubbs might get the nod.
The Phillies managed only four singles off Gray, who recently signed a three-year, $75 million deal. They struck out five times and grounded into two double plays.
Despite having chances, particularly in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, they were unable to capitalize. In the fourth, Trea Turner was in scoring position with fewer than two outs, but Gray struck out Bryce Harper and Realmuto to end the threat.
In the fifth, Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh hit consecutive singles, but Johan Rojas grounded into a double play.
The Phillies had another chance in the sixth when Matthew Liberatore walked the first two batters, Kyle Schwarber and Turner. Harper grounded into a double play, and Realmuto struck out.
In the seventh, the Phillies loaded the bases with one out but stranded them as Whit Merrifield and Schwarber struck out.
Manager Rob Thomson noted, “I don’t know if everybody’s trying too hard, but that typically happens when you’re going through something like this. They’ve just got to relax and get back to their game.”
The Phillies are struggling with runners in scoring position, hitting .191 in those situations, the worst in the National League. They’ve scored 41 runs in 11 games, averaging 3.7 runs per game compared to 4.9 last season.
Schwarber commented, “You can talk about your at-bats, you can talk about plays in the field, but there’s no rah-rah. We know we’ve been here, we’ve done it. We’ve just got to keep consistently putting in the work.”
gt
Several key players are off to slow starts: Turner, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Castellanos, and Rojas are yet to hit a home run, and Castellanos is still searching for his first extra-base hit. Bohm is batting .237, Stott .206, Schwarber .205, Castellanos .154, and Rojas .148. Merrifield is 3-for-18. Only Harper and Marsh have an OPS above .800.
Thomson observed, “We’re not creating any slug right now and that’s part of our M.O. The last few games, we’ve been pretty good with staying in the strike zone, but tonight, we got out of the zone a little bit.”
Former Phillies left-hander JoJo Romero, traded for Edmundo Sosa in July 2022, had a strong performance with five outs and four strikeouts to get the Cardinals through the eighth inning.
The Phillies’ pitching has been solid through the first four series, but the starters can’t deliver shutouts every night. Wheeler gave up a 440-foot home run to Nolan Gorman after opening with 3⅔ scoreless innings and was visibly frustrated by some calls from umpire Alex MacKay. Alec Burleson and Masyn Winn’s hits led to two runs before Wheeler left after seven innings. Ricardo Pinto pitched the eighth.
Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez were unavailable after recent heavy usage, and Jeff Hoffman was likely unavailable after pitching on Monday.
The Phillies are 3-2 on their current six-game road trip and will face the Cardinals in a 1:15 p.m. game on Wednesday, weather permitting. Aaron Nola will start against Lance Lynn, who has allowed a league-high 47 home runs since last season.
