Without Kyle Schwarber, Phillies blanked by Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins

MIAMI — It got to the point where Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly started making a list.

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Sitting in the visitors’ dugout, watching well-hit ball after well-hit ball result in outs against the Marlins, he began marking them down.

“Not that they’re all going to be hits, but those balls are hit good, so I was halfway OK with that,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, you want to score more runs.”

If one or two of those had fallen, the story of Tuesday night’s 1-0 loss to Miami could have been different. But moral victories mean little for a team with playoff expectations and a floundering offense as the trade deadline closes in.

In reality, the Phillies mustered four hits against the Marlins, with outfielder Bryan De La Cruz accounting for half of those. Miami starter Sandy Alcantara took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until De La Cruz broke it up with an infield single.

The lackluster offensive performance wasted a solid outing from Aaron Nola, who surrendered only one run over 5⅔ innings.

“Sandy was on point pretty well tonight,” Harper said. “Yeah, that’s one obviously I thought we could have won, with the swings we took tonight and the way Nola pitched.”

He added that he thought his fourth-inning fly out was gone, until Marlins center fielder Jakob Marsee made a jumping catch right at the wall. Harper had squared up a cutter from Alcantara at the bottom of the zone.

Bohm was the only other Phillie to record a hit on Tuesday, with a single in the sixth.

The offense was without National League home run leader Kyle Schwarber, who was unavailable because of a gastrointestinal illness. But even before Schwarber was on the shelf, the team had been scuffling. They have lost four consecutive series out of the All-Star break.

“I don’t think it’s a bad stretch. I think we’ve run into some really good pitching,” Harper said. “Some buzz saws, actually.”

Harper pointed to the Mets’ Nolan McLean, the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler and Ryan Weathers, and Alcantara as pitchers who have befuddled the Phillies offense recently.

But for a team to go the distance in October, they must find a way to succeed against top-tier arms. With the trade deadline approaching on Monday, Harper is hoping for reinforcements.

“I think we need some help,” Harper said. “I think we’ve proved pretty much all year, we’ve done a pretty good job, but anytime you can get some help in here and reinforcements, I think it helps.”

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The fruitless offense on Tuesday was even more deflating considering Nola’s outing. He made just one costly mistake, hanging a curveball to Kyle Stowers in the first inning that he promptly sent 390 feet to right-center field. It marked the 26th homer Nola has allowed this year, which is the second-most among all pitchers.

But that was the only run he allowed. Nola worked around five hits and three walks to keep it a 1-0 ballgame and give his offense a chance. He found that his curveball didn’t have as much bite as normal, so he leaned more on his changeup.

“Changeup used to be one of my better pitches. I worked on it a lot this year just to try to get it to where I want to feel it, and lately it’s been a lot better than it has been the past couple years,” Nola said. “I feel like it makes the game a little bit smoother and opens the curveball up a little bit.”

Of the 93 pitches Nola threw, 34 were changeups, which he mixed in to lefties and righties.

Nola got into some trouble after retiring the first two batters in the sixth inning. Xavier Edwards drew a four-pitch walk, and, although Tim Mayza had been warming, Mattingly left Nola in to face left-hander Liam Hicks for the third time.

Hicks singled to put runners on the corners, and Mayza then took over. He struck out pinch-hitting righty Esteury Ruiz to leave them there. After that, José Alvarado and Orion Kerkering delivered a scoreless seventh and eighth, respectively.

“They kept giving us chances. We just weren’t able to break through,” Mattingly said.

With one final opportunity, the Phillies went down in order against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks. Sosa struck out on a pitch well above the zone to end it.

“We’re still in good spot. We just got to get through this and fight through it,” Mattingly said. “It’s like a slump offensively. You’re going to keep going, and you’re counting on it to turn. That comes with work.”

Watch the latest episode

Jim Bowden spent 16 years as a general manager with the Reds and Nationals before becoming an MLB analyst and commentator. And with the trade deadline approaching — Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. — he joined Phillies Extra to discuss the Phillies’ needs, some potential targets, and what it’s like to be a GM in the frenzied days leading up to the deadline. Watch here.

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Previous episodes: John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins

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