Phillies Drop Yet Another Series as Division Lead Dwindles

In the past, we have seen hard-throwing Braves righty Spencer Strider dominate the Phillies in Atlanta. However, a different Braves pitcher—yet another Spencer—had the Phillies’ number tonight. Spencer Schwellenbach, a 24-year-old righty drafted from the University of Nebraska, made his major-league debut for the Braves on May 29. His success was not immediate, but his impact has still been profound for an injury-plagued Braves team looking for depth.

The Phillies nabbed an early run off Schwellenbach and the Braves in the top of the first, as Nick Castellanos’ RBI groundout made it a 1-0 game.

Christopher Sanchez, the Phillies’ rubber-match starter, escaped a jam in the bottom half of the first after Bryson Stott started a nifty 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. At the time, the Phillies hadn’t scored first all series, so things were trending in the right direction for the Phillies.

Unfortunately, that early success did not last long. Gio Urshela hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning, tying the game at one. An inning later, Matt Olson hit an RBI double of his own, and in the bottom of the sixth, Adam Duvall launched a 110-mile-per-hour home run, putting the Braves ahead by two.

While the Braves’ slow but steady offensive production turned the tide of the game, the Phillies’ offensive stagnancy stood out more than anything. After Bryce Harper’s base hit with one out in the first inning, the Phillies failed to record another hit until the seventh inning, when Bryson Stott hit a groundball single that deflected off the leg of Schwellenbach and rolled toward an unoccupied third base.

Thanks to an RBI double hit by J.T. Realmuto in the seventh inning, the Phillies went on to score one more run off Schwellenbach, but it was not enough to fend off the back end of the Braves’ bullpen.

These aforementioned stagnancies are nothing new for the Phillies. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper tallied two hits in 33 at-bats in three games against the Braves, striking out fourteen times. As a team, they struck out 32 times in these three games and scored just six runs.

“They pitched us pretty tough,” Phillies’ manager Rob Thomson said. “[Schwellenbach] had really good stuff. He creates a lot of chase, and we chased a lot this series. We’ve got to cut back on that.”

Now, the Phillies have dropped eight of their last twelve series. Players that were key to the team’s first-half success have faltered tremendously since. Brandon Marsh has struck out in 25 of his 50 at-bats in August, and he has a mere .543 OPS in that span.

The Phillies are slated to travel to Kansas City for a three-game series with the Royals that begins on Friday. With 35 games to go, the Phillies now have a six-game lead over the Braves in the NL East.

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