Phillies Shut Out By Cubs 4-0 After Poor At-Bats

The struggle bus continued Friday evening for the Phillies, as Rob Thomson‘s squad was defeated by the Chicago Cubs 4-0. It was an outright brutal performance for the Fightins, who struggled all day to produce any sort of runs.

The Phillies totaled five hits, two coming from J.T. Realmuto, but were unable to get the big hit with runners on base. The team went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base as they failed all afternoon to get the clutch hit that they needed.

While Chicago only scored three runs in the win, they picked up huge hits when it mattered. Ian Happ and Jon Berti both picked up two hits and one RBI, while Pete Crow-Armstrong recorded a hit, an RBI, and two stolen bases. On top of that, a five-inning, seven-strikeout performance from Colin Rea and shut-down relief innings from four Cubs relievers proved to be too much for the struggling Phillies.

After an over two-hour rain delay, the game finally kicked off. The Phillies were able to work two early runners on base thanks to walks from Bryson Stott and Kyle Schwarber. However, a strikeout and groundout from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, respectively, ended any chance at early runs.

The Cubs, meanwhile, also had early runners on base thanks to a double from leadoff hitter Ian Happ, and a poorly read fly ball hit to Max Kepler allowed Kyle Tucker to single. A walk to Michael Busch loaded the bases, but Taijuan Walker picked up a huge strikeout and lineout to get out of the jam.

After no runs in the second for the Phillies, the Cubs put the first run on the board in their half of the inning. Crow-Armstrong singled to right and scored two batters later from a Berti double. Chicago added another run in the third after getting two more runners on and a Nico Hoerner single to make it 2-0.

Philadelphia threatened in the fourth, getting two two-out hits, a single off the bat of Kepler and a double from Realmuto. Up came Alec Bohm, who came into the game on a 10-game hitting streak. He reached out at a sweeper away on the very first pitch and lined out to left to end the inning. Bohm failed to record a hit, and his streak has come to an end.

In the fourth, the Cubs added another run. Berti led off the inning with a single, and Happ brought him home with an RBI double down the left field line to make it 3-0 Chicago.

Both teams went scoreless in the fifth and sixth innings, but in the top of the seventh, the Phillies threatened once again. Realmuto beat out a ground ball for a single, and Bohm walked, putting two runners on with no outs. With right-hander Brad Keller on the mound, Cal Stevenson pinch-hit for Johan Rojas. Stevenson then, of course, struck out on three pitches, and Stott quickly popped out to second base for two quick outs. A Trea Turner groundout two pitches later ended that inning.

The Cubs once again added another run in the bottom of the seventh. Dansby Swanson doubled to lead off the inning, and a Hoerner groundout moved him to third. Crow-Armstrong then suicide-squeeze bunted, and after a terrible play by Carlos Hernandez, allowed Swanson to score.

In the eighth, the Phillies got two more runners with two outs, but once again failed to cause any kind of action. After the Cubs went down in order in the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies did the same in the top of the ninth, with Stott lining out to right to end the game with the Phillies losing 4-0.

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