Category: Sports

MIAMI — It got to the point where Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly started making a list.

Sitting in the visitors’ dugout, watching well-hit ball after well-hit ball result in outs against the Marlins, he began marking them down.

• Third inning: Trea Turner line out to left field (101.7 mph exit velocity)
• Fourth inning: Bryce Harper fly out to center field (106 mph)
• Fourth inning: Alec Bohm fly out to right field (99.3 mph)
• Fifth inning: Garrett Stubbs line out to center field (97.7 mph)
• Seventh inning: Edmundo Sosa line out to third base (106 mph)

“Not that they’re all going to be hits, but those balls are hit good, so I was halfway OK with that,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, you want to score more runs.”

If one or two of those had fallen, the story of Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to Miami could have been different. But moral victories mean little for a team with playoff expectations and a floundering offense as the trade deadline closes in.

In reality, the Phillies mustered four hits against the Marlins, with outfielder Bryan De La Cruz accounting for half of those. Miami starter Sandy Alcantara took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until De La Cruz broke it up with an infield single.

The lackluster offensive performance wasted a solid outing from Aaron Nola, who surrendered only one run over 5⅔ innings.

“Sandy was on point pretty well tonight,” Harper said. “Yeah, that’s one obviously I thought we could have won, with the swings we took tonight and the way Nola pitched.”

He added that he thought his fourth-inning fly out was gone, until Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee made a jumping catch right at the wall. Harper had squared up a cutter from Alcantara at the bottom of the zone.

Bohm was the only other Phillie to record a hit on Tuesday, with a single in the sixth.

The offense was without National League home run leader Kyle Schwarber, who was unavailable because of a gastrointestinal illness. But even before Schwarber was on the shelf, the team had been scuffling. They have lost four consecutive series out of the All-Star break.

“I don’t think it’s a bad stretch. I think we’ve run into some really good pitching,” Harper said. “Some buzz saws, actually.”

Harper pointed to the Mets’ Nolan McLean, the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler and Ryan Weathers, and Alcantara as pitchers who have befuddled the Phillies offense recently.

But for a team to go the distance in October, they must find a way to succeed against top-tier arms. With the trade deadline approaching on Monday, Harper is hoping for reinforcements.

“I think we need some help,” Harper said. “I think we’ve proved pretty much all year, we’ve done a pretty good job, but anytime you can get some help in here and reinforcements, I think it helps.”

The fruitless offense on Tuesday was even more deflating considering Nola’s outing. He made just one costly mistake, hanging a curveball to Kyle Stowers in the first inning that he promptly sent 390 feet to right-center field. It marked the 26th homer Nola has allowed this year, which is the second-most among all pitchers.

But that was the only run he allowed. Nola worked around five hits and three walks to keep it a 1-0 ballgame and give his offense a chance. He found that his curveball didn’t have as much bite as normal, so he leaned more on his changeup.

“Changeup used to be one of my better pitches. I worked on it a lot this year just to try to get it to where I want to feel it, and lately it’s been a lot better than it has been the past couple years,” Nola said. “I feel like it makes the game a little bit smoother and opens the curveball up a little bit.”

Of the 93 pitches Nola threw, 34 were changeups, which he mixed in to lefties and righties.

Nola got into some trouble after retiring the first two batters in the sixth inning. Xavier Edwards drew a four-pitch walk, and, although Tim Mayza had been warming, Mattingly left Nola in to face left-hander Liam Hicks for the third time.

Hicks singled to put runners on the corners, and Mayza then took over. He struck out pinch-hitting righty Esteury Ruiz to leave them there. After that, José Alvarado and Orion Kerkering delivered a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively.

“They kept giving us chances. We just weren’t able to break through,” Mattingly said.

With one final opportunity, the Phillies went down in order against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks. Sosa struck out on a pitch well above the zone to end it.

“We’re still in good spot. We just got to get through this and fight through it,” Mattingly said. “It’s like a slump offensively. You’re going to keep going, and you’re counting on it to turn. That comes with work.”

MIAMI — Kyle Schwarber was out of the Phillies lineup on Tuesday with an illness, interim manager Don Mattingly said.

It is a similar gastrointestinal issue to the one that caused Schwarber to miss three games in May. In his absence, Bryson Stott moved to second in the batting order against Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins, behind Trea Turner at leadoff.

“I hope it’s a day, but we’ll see,” Mattingly said.

Before the illness, Schwarber was scheduled to start at first base Tuesday to give Bryce Harper a game at designated hitter. Alec Bohm instead moved over to first, and Edmundo Sosa took over at third base.

The Phillies’ bench was short on Tuesday. Derek Hill has been dealing with what Mattingly described as “lower-half stuff,” and has not appeared in a game since Saturday.

“We expect D-Hill back in a day or so, where he’s kind of full-go again, where I can use him in different ways,” Mattingly said pregame on Tuesday.

Bryan De La Cruz got the start in right field against the right-handed Alcantara over Gabriel Rincones Jr., who went 0-for-3 on Monday. Rincones has a .171 average in 28 games since being called up in June.

“Rico’s been given a decent runway against right-handed pitching. Hasn’t been as good as we’d like,” Mattingly said. “De La’s been getting his hits, and I know he’s going to be solid in the outfield and all that. So I don’t feel like it’s going to be worse than what we’re seeing.”

No concerns about Wheeler

Even though Zack Wheeler’s average fastball velocity was down 1.7 mph in his start on Monday, neither he nor Mattingly expressed concern afterward that a health issue contributed to the drop.

All of Wheeler’s pitches trended down in the three innings he pitched in the 8-7 loss to Miami, which was his shortest outing since 2022. But he said physically he felt fine, even though the ball was not coming out the way he wanted it to.

“Just no excuse. It’s just one of those days for me. Stinks, but it is what it is, I guess,” Wheeler said.

On Tuesday, the Phillies maintained that there was no concern about an injury affecting him.

“Nothing medical has come our way,” Mattingly said.

Stubbs returns

Backup catcher Garrett Stubbs was reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday and was in the Phillies lineup. Stubbs had been on the shelf with left wrist inflammation and had not appeared behind the plate in a game since July 5. His last two appearances before the injury were pitching in blowout games.

As a corresponding move, catcher Payton Henry was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley. Henry was recalled Friday when Rafael Marchán also wound up on the injured list with patellar tendinitis in his left knee, but did not appear in a game. J.T. Realmuto started four consecutive games instead and got the day off on Tuesday.

Realmuto has been swinging a hot bat lately, with a .395 batting average and .942 OPS since July 11. That included a ground-rule double in Monday’s loss to the Marlins.

Extra bases

Brad Keller (torn UCL in right elbow) received a second opinion on his injury and will decide the next step soon. … Jesús Luzardo (9-5, 3.31 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s 12:10 p.m. series finale. The Marlins’ scheduled starter has not been announced.