Jesús Luzardo and Phillies pitchers combined to walk 10 Chicago Cubs batters in a 7-4 loss Tuesday that was the club's seventh consecutive defeat.
Luzardo struggled with control for much of the night, but ultimately worked out of jams in both the third and fourth innings, stranding runners on third base. With runners on second and third in the fifth inning, Luzardo struck out Michael Busch for a big second out. Thomson then then elected to pull Luzardo in favor of Orion Kerkering, with the right-handed Dansby Swanson due up.
Kerkering pitched around Swanson with first base open, ultimately walking him. Cubs manager Craig Counsell then countered by pulling the right-handed hitting Matt Shaw back, instead choosing to have the left-handed hitting Moisés Ballesteros come up. Kerkering immediately got two strikes on him, but then fired three consecutive balls. It appeared on 3-2 that Kerkering's pitch clipped the bottom of the strike zone, but it wasn't called by home plate umpire Vic Carapazza and J.T. Realmuto didn't challenge it, despite the Phillies having both remaining:
This is the Orion Kerkering ball four that forced in a run. Looks like if J.T. Realmuto had challenged it, he would have won. @OnPattison pic.twitter.com/n4FCQyojEM
Even if Realmuto was uncertain about whether this pitch was a strike — and given how close it was, that would be fair — it almost felt like a pitch that he needed to challenge. Worst-case scenario, the Phillies still would have had one remaining. But in this case, Realmuto would have been successful in getting this call overturned, which would have ended the inning without a run scoring.
To the credit of Kerkering, he limited the damage, getting Pete Crow-Armstrong to ground out to second base to end the inning. That closed the line on Luzardo, who allowed five hits and one run over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out just three batters, while issuing four walks. Just 60 of Luzardo's 100 pitches were strikes, so command was a struggle the entire night.
The Phillies did pull even in the top of the sixth, with Kyle Schwarber hitting a solo home run against his former team:
Kyle Schwarber ties the game in his old ballpark!
(via @TalkinBaseball_) pic.twitter.com/rR2cAfoxeT
However, the tie was short-lived, thanks again in part to walks. While the big blow in the bottom of the sixth inning was a two-run bloop single by Michael Busch that scored two runs, Tanner Banks issued two walks in the frame. Frankly, the Phillies were lucky to escape only down 3-1.
An inning later, the Cubs extended their lead with a pair of homers off of Tim Mayza. The first was a solo shot from Nico Hoerner, before Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run shot out of the stadium later in the inning:
seiya said, "MY TURN." pic.twitter.com/lNiWJvXhBI
Bryce Harper did counter with a two-run home run in the top of the eighth off of Riley Martin:
🚨The Philadelphia Phillies have scored more than two runs pic.twitter.com/BOcehDpFHf
It was a notable homer for Harper because it was his 184th as a Phillie, the same number he hit during his seven seasons with the Washington Nationals.
Chicago added on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, when Busch was able to score on a wild pitch by José Alvarado. To make matters worse, Alvarado departed early with what the Phillies called "mid-back spasms," according to The Athletic's Charlotte Varnes.
An Alec Bohm sac fly in the top of the ninth did cut the deficit to three, but Caleb Thielbar ultimately got Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner to fly out to end the game.
With the loss, the Phillies have now dropped seven in a row. They are a dismal 8-15. Perhaps things aren't quite as bad for the Phillies as the division-rival New York Mets, who lost their 12th game in a row Tuesday. But if things don't get turned around in short order, the only thing the Phillies are going to be competing for is trying to stay out of last place in the NL East.
The Phillies and Cubs will continue their four-game series Wednesday evening, with Rob Thomson and company expected to use an opener in front of Taijuan Waker.
