Left the offense over the border: Blue Jays 2, Phillies 1

The Phillies once again struggled offensively in their third straight loss, this one at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 2-1. Philadelphia finished the night with just four hits and one walk while going 0-4 with runners in scoring position. The Phillies are now 4-17 in their last 21 games played at the Rogers Centre.

Zack Wheeler went seven innings while allowing one run and left the game with the score tied at 1-1. Seranthony Dominguez entered in the eighth and allowed a walk and a single that should’ve been an error on Kyle Schwarber to begin the inning. He appeared to be almost out of the jam after a strong defensive play from Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto with the bases loaded to get a force at home, but Dominguez immediately plunked Cavan Biggio with a slider on the first pitch to drive in the winning run.

Offense absent again

Over their now three game losing streak, the Phillies have scored 2 total runs and are 0-18 with runners in scoring position. Their lone run of the night came on a Johan Rojas double that was preceeded by an Edmundo Sosa single in the sixth.

Philadelphia’s big five of Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Realmuto, and Trea Turner went a combined 0-18 with 9 strikeouts. The team as a whole punched-out 13 times, the third straight game in which they had double digit strikeouts.

Pitcher’s duel

Wheeler benefitted from the extra rest with a final line of 7 IP, 1 run, 3 hits, 4 walks, and 5 strikeouts. However, Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi was just as good, as he finished 6 innings and allowed one run on 4 hits with no walks and 7 Ks. Kikuchi blinked first with the RBI double to Rojas, but Wheeler was not able to respond with a shutdown inning and gave the run back.

Wheeler faced first and second with no outs in the bottom of the sixth and was able to turn a double play on a ball hit right back to him by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to put a runner on third with two outs. He was almost out of the jam before allowing an RBI single up the middle to George Springer on a 2-2 sinker that jammed Springer but not enough.

Lock down bullpen

The Phillies offense did not offer much in the way of resistance to the Blue Jays bullpen after Kikuchi was lifted at 84 pitches. Yimi Garcia, Jordan Hicks, and the returning from injury Jordan Romano combined to throw three hitless innings with one walk and six strikeouts.

Doesn’t get any easier

Tomorrow the Phillies will face right hander Kevin Gausman. In his last three starts against Philadelphia dating back to 2021, Gausman has thrown a combined 18 shutout innings with 22 strikeouts. Aaron Nola will take the mound for the Phillies.