SEATTLE — A Philadelphia Phillies winning streak that began with a Kyle Schwarber homer into the cornstalks in Iowa ended with four Mariners home runs at T-Mobile Park on Monday. After nine games full of electric, nerve-wracking and oft-mystifying baseball, the Phillies finally lost 9-2 to the Mariners on Monday.The evening marked a continuation of struggles for Zack Wheeler, who lacked command from the first inning onward. He tied his career-high in walks (five) and earned runs allowed (eight) as he became the first pitcher in Phillies history to give up four or more home runs and five or more walks in a game. Wheeler’s August ERA sits at 5.19, and he has not pitched six innings in over a month.The walks remain a persistent issue, an uncharacteristic one for Wheeler. Since his start Aug. 7, Wheeler has walked 16 batters across four outings — the most he’s walked in any four-game span since May 2014.
This streak has undoubtedly changed the Phillies’ fortunes, no matter what happens from here. Less than two weeks ago, this team floundered while losing two of three games in St. Louis. The offense was unproductive, the bullpen exhausted and starters gassed after several extra-inning games and three sticky games against the Cardinals.But, a few hours after they wandered the Field of Dreams site and shortly after they emerged from the Iowa corn Aug. 13, the Phillies found something. They lead the majors in OBP this month (.370), along with having the lowest strikeout rate of any team (14.7 percent) and the highest walk rate (12 percent). They had a thrilling win Friday and a comeback for the ages Sunday.Yet there are five weeks of season left; the Phillies still have lots of ground to cover to get to October and beyond.Ahead of Monday’s game, interim manager Don Mattingly said the Phillies would “ride this as long as possible.”“But this time of year, it’s just day to day,” he said. “And things change fast — it’s changed fast for us in nine days, right? Things change quickly this time of year, and you don’t ever want to take your foot off the gas and think, ‘Oh, we’re good now.’”This story will be updated.
