PHILADELPHIA — In the sixth inning of a tie game Wednesday night, Bryce Harper stepped to the plate against a lefty sidearmer and saw six pitches. Three were down the middle, none was faster than 90 mph.
And Harper never took the bat off his shoulder.
It was a weird way to go down on strikes. The Phillies went down strangely, too, with Bryson Stott getting caught stealing second base as the tying run in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Brewers before a midweek crowd of 33,753 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies’ four-game winning streak went kaput because their bats were mostly muted other than Nick Castellanos’ solo homer in the fourth inning and scorching Kyle Schwarber’s two-run single in the fifth.
After that, the Phillies didn’t get another hit until Harper’s leadoff single in the ninth against Brewers closer Devin Williams.
Two batters later, Stott blooped a single into center field, sending hustling Harper all the way to third base. But with Alec Bohm at the plate, Brewers catcher William Contreras threw out Stott, who got tagged out on a close play that was confirmed by replay.
Bohm struck out on the ensuing pitch to end the game.
The Phillies got another solid start from Cristopher Sánchez. They also overcame an early 3-0 deficit, tying the game in the fifth inning.
But the Brewers pulled ahead in the seventh against the Phillies’ bullpen. Jeff Hoffman issued a leadoff walk to No. 8-hitting Blake Perkins before lefty Matt Strahm gave up a two-out double to Contreras to give the Brewers a 4-3 edge.
The Brewers added a run in the ninth inning against Andrew Bellatti, and they almost needed the insurance. Harper, who has had a cold the last two days, lined a single to center field to start what looked like a potential ninth-inning rally.
But the Phillies ran themselves out of a comeback.
Fifth dimension
When the No. 5 starter’s turn comes around, the Phillies ask Sánchez to keep the game close for five innings.
Once again, he met the challenge.
Sánchez gave up three second-inning runs, though only one was earned after third baseman Edmundo Sosa’s error, and nothing thereafter. He rolled a double play in the third inning and pitched around a two-out hit in the fourth and a two-out walk in the fifth.
In six starts since being recalled from Triple-A last month, Sánchez has yielded nine earned runs in 31 innings for a 2.61 ERA. He also has walked only four batters, notable given his control problems earlier in the season in the minors.
Stalled Hall
Even though the Phillies faced a right-handed starter (Colin Rea), first baseman Darick Hall began the game on the bench. After grounding out in a pinch-hit appearance in the seventh inning, he’s 5 for 33 with 14 strikeouts since returning from Triple-A.
“There’s some swing-and-miss in there,” manager Rob Thomson said.
Hall has struggled defensively, too, with Thomson noting that he’s “a much better defender than he’s looked the last couple of days.”
