Phillies have left themselves no breathing room after losing 6 of 8 series since break

ST. LOUIS — The bags were packed, filling the lockers of a quiet visitors clubhouse at Busch Stadium. They will soon line a clubhouse in Dyersville, Iowa, the Phillies arriving on Thursday to find everything in its place.As Philadelphia heads to the Field of Dreams site in Iowa for its 14th game in 14 days, there is much to consider. Their offense scored one run across Tuesday and Wednesday’s games in St. Louis. They did not win Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler’s starts. They have now lost six of eight series since the All-Star break. It all feels so tenuous.“Obviously, (we’re) not playing great baseball,” Bryce Harper said after Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. “The last two weeks, we should have won multiple games and we haven’t. We’ve had the lead and haven’t won, so we’re kind of shooting ourselves in the foot.”After two-plus months of playing hair-on-fire baseball, the Phillies (64-58) have slowed to a crawl. They ended Wednesday outside of playoff position, by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was their first day out of a playoff spot since June 3.The sky fell during a dismal April, and it threatens to once more. Everyone has found themselves exhausted, in many different ways, over the past week — the bullpen after several extra-inning games over the weekend, the starting pitchers in uncomfortably hot conditions in St. Louis, the lineup sending the ball straight to the Cardinals’ defense over and over.“We’re kind of shooting ourselves in the foot,” Bryce Harper said about the Phillies’ recent run of form. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)The Phillies have little breathing room; multiple stretches of brutal baseball have solidified that. Now, the question is whether they can thrive and survive in these conditions over the next six weeks. The answer feels like a certainty to interim manager Don Mattingly.“We control our own destiny,” Mattingly said. “We know we can win out. That’s possible, right?”Winning from here is possible, though it will not be easy — particularly in a difficult September that features a stretch against the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. That is six weeks away, however. So much could change between now and then.The Phillies, right now, look exhausted. They look like they are ready for Friday’s off day. First, though, they’ll face the Minnesota Twins in the Field of Dreams Game.