Phillies manage only three hits as they lose to the Cardinals. 'We've got to be better.'

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 13, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — When the ball got up in the air, Brandon Marsh raced in and toward the left-field line. But third baseman Alec Bohm barely gave chase, presuming it would go foul.

Instead, it dropped inside the chalk.

And that was Sunday in St. Louis for the Phillies, summed up neatly by one play — a bloop, ground-rule RBI double for the Cardinals’ Nolan Gorman.

So, how was your weekend?

“Nobody from the infield even attempted at it,” manager Rob Thomson said after a 7-0 thumping behind ace Zack Wheeler, the second time in three games that the Phillies were held to three hits and shut out. “There’s some little things that we didn’t do well today. There’s some things we need to clean up.”

Scoring more runs would surely help. Hitting has a way of making everything look better, and an inconsistent offense bottomed out over three games against the Cardinals.

In losing the series finale and their second series in a row — and dropping their first series in St. Louis since 2017 — the Phillies didn’t have an extra-base hit — or any hits at all after Bryce Harper’s one-out single in the third inning. They put one runner in scoring position but couldn’t drive in J.T. Realmuto from third base with one out.

The Phillies went 14 for 94 (.149) and scored four runs in the three games against the Cardinals. They went a series without homering for the first time since last Aug. 20-22 in Atlanta. They were 39 for 203 (.192) with 15 runs on a 2-4 trip through Atlanta and St. Louis.

All together now: Yikes.

“It’s tough to struggle, right?” Harper said. “But obviously it’s the big leagues. You’ve got to try to pull out of it and understand you’re going to go through your ups and downs for the season but try to stay as even-keeled as you can and always remember it’s not about the name on the back. It’s about the one on the front.”

In other words, it has been 15 games. The Phillies are 9-6 despite not playing nearly their best yet. But several players — notably Marsh and Bohm — are pressing like it’s the middle of October and the pennant is at stake.

OK, please continue, Bryce.

“We’re trying to win series, and no matter what you’re doing, you’ve got to keep rolling,” Harper said. “I don’t want to be hitting .250 right now, but obviously I want to win every day. Just got to have that mindset coming in each day and try to win ballgames.”

Given the lack of offense, there’s additional weight on the starting pitchers, who have mostly delivered. Wheeler set down the Cardinals on seven pitches in the first inning and seven in the second. He sidestepped a leadoff single and a one-out bunt hit in the third.

But the Cardinals finally got to Wheeler in the fourth inning. Nolan Arenado singled before slumping Willson Contreras turned on an inside fastball and hit it out to left field to put the Phillies in a 2-0 hole.

It might as well have been 20-0.

“Command wasn’t really there today and hasn’t been for a couple of starts now, so just got to dig into that a little bit and just figure out what’s going on,” said Wheeler, charged with four runs in six innings. “I don’t think it’s anything crazy. But velo’s down a little bit and command’s off, so just going to fix that.”

The Phillies’ only scoring threat came in the second inning. With one out and runners on second and third, Marsh struck out. Johan Rojas recognized that Arenado was playing in at third base and dropped a squeeze bunt. But Matthew Liberatore bounced off the mound and made a nice play to throw him out.

Otherwise, Cardinals pitching retired the last 20 batters of the game.

Here’s some good news: Harper, for one, feels like a hot streak might be around the corner. In the third inning Saturday and again in the first inning Sunday, he scalded balls to center field at 105.3 mph. Both were caught.

“I think I’m on time [with his swing],” Harper said. “I think I’m not swinging too much at that slider that I did early in the year. I said to [hitting coach Kevin] Long about a week ago, ‘Give me 10 days, and we’ll be good.’ We’re about on the seventh day right now.”

Maybe it will help to come home, too. The Phillies will open a seven-game homestand Monday night with the first of four games against the Giants, who are off to a surprising 11-4 start.

“At the beginning of the season, we all knew our starting pitching was going to be a strength for us. Our offense needs a strength, too,” Harper said. “Because if you don’t score runs, you’re not going to win games. Our eyeballs have been really good lately, but also, we’ve got to hit with guys on base and in scoring position, as well.

“We’ve got to be better. We’ll find our way.”