For the Philadelphia Phillies, focus needs to be on the little things. Everything was ugly last night at Citizens Bank Park, as the Phillies were handed an ugly 11-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The Phillies struck out 13 times and picked up a miserable six hits. Aaron Nola allowed five runs (four earned) in five innings. He now has a 5.19 ERA in his last six starts. The defense continues to play poorly and cost the Phillies outs and runs yet again last night.

The Phillies have lost five out of the last six games and are now below .500 for the first time since May 3rd.

The Red Sox had runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth inning. Xander Bogaerts singled to left field. McCutchen fielded the ball and threw home. Alex Verdugo seemed to be dead in the base paths heading home but for whatever reason, Alec Bohm decided to cut it off. Bohm threw to second baseman and Jean Segura tried to nab J.D. Martinez but missed Segura and the ball went wide right.

Segura fell to the dirt as the ball rolled to shallow center field. Segura, for some odd season, stayed on the ground while Martinez rounded third base to score another run. Bogaerts rounded second, Segura was STILL on the ground, and Rhys Hoskins had to run the entire way over from first base to field the ball.

The Red Sox were able to turn a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 lead on one, ugly play. Jean Segura even with his poor defensive night, brought the only excitement for the Phillies with a no-doubt game tying two run home run.

McCutchen misjudged a ball in the sixth inning that allowed Hunter Redfroe to score Christian Vazquez and advance to second. Bohm’s throw in the seventh pulled Hoskins off the bag at first and Rafael Devers hit a two-out-two-run homer to make the ball game 8-3.

To recap, that’s a total of two errors that led to three unearned runs. Four runs overall. Bryce Harper let a ball fall in the right-field corner to clear the bases for the Red Sox in the late innings, ending the night with an 11-3 loss.

Speaking of Harper, he’s now 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts and one walk in his last six games. Harper, who clearly doesn’t look like himself out there, was 0-for-4 last night with three strikeouts.

The Phillies won’t win many ball games with both Harper and Nola off.

It has not been a good week for the Phillies. The silver lining would be that they just have to play smart, sound baseball to change their luck. Routine plays need to be made.

Phillies Game Notes:

I was at the game last night and it felt fantastic to be back in the parking lots drinking a few beers before a Phillies game. People were tailgating, everyone was happy, the weather was great. Of course, that changed when the game started and the Phillies got spanked while I was surrounded by “Red Sox Nation” in the stands, but hey, it was a small step in the right direction.

Up Next:

RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.50 ERA) takes the mound for the Red Sox and RHP Spencer Howard (0-0, 8.31) will make his first start of the season for the Phillies on Saturday night. Howard will be limited to 60 pitches.

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Mandatory Credit: USA TODAY | NBC Sports Philadelphia