Phillies have now lost 8 of their last 12 after letting another one slip away vs Nationals

Well, here we are. I’ve been sounding the alarm about the cracks in this team for a couple weeks now, and unfortunately the chickens are coming home to roost.

The Phillies have lost 8 of their last 12, and Tuesday was about as rough a day as you can have. First they lost Jesus Luzardo to the IL, then they got thumped 6-3 by the Nationals. Not great, obviously, but if you’ve been paying attention, it was always going to end this way given the schedule in September.

As if losing arguably your best pitcher to shoulder inflammation with his postseason status uncertain wasn’t enough, the Phillies went out and laid an egg against a bad Nationals team the same day.

If the Phillies don’t start stacking some consistent wins, there might not even be a postseason to worry about. That sounds dramatic, but look at the standings.

The eight-of-12 slide has seriously wounded any hope of catching Atlanta in the NL East, and while they still cling to the second Wild Card spot, the Padres are right on their tail and the Diamondbacks are very much alive.

With 11 games left, including a brutal upcoming stretch of four against the Mets and three each against the first-place Brewers and Rays, this thing is far from locked up. The bid for a fifth straight postseason isn’t in desperation mode yet, but we are slowly entering that territory.

Cristopher Sanchez. Not Good.

Cristopher Sanchez did not have his sharpest stuff, struggling with command and allowing eight hits, including three doubles and a homer, over 6 1/3 innings.

Sanchez has now given up 18 hits and 11 runs in his last two starts, and he ranks second in the majors with 193 2/3 innings this season. The velocity is still there, hitting 96.4 and averaging 95.1, but the command has been off. That’s something to watch closely down the stretch, because a gassed Sanchez in October would be a real problem.

Last night’s loss ends his bid for history. Cristopher Sanchez falls to 17-6, and with only two starts left, he won’t become the Phillies’ first 20-game winner since Roy Halladay in 2010. That’s a shame, because the man deserved better than the run support and bullpen luck he got in a lot of these games.

JT Realmuto and Jonathan Bowlan?

Here’s the sequence that lost the game, and it’s one worth questioning. Sanchez exited with the score tied 3-3 and runners on second and third with one out in the seventh.

The Nats sent up lefty pinch-hitter Daylen Lile, and Bowlan threw a first-pitch changeup that Lile promptly deposited over the center-field wall for a three-run homer.

Why in the world is Realmuto calling for a first-pitch changeup there? No fucking clue but obviously, that was the wrong pitch to call, especially when your reliever is a fastball guy. I’m not sure why anyone would even think of going soft on the first pitch?

Whatever the reason, it turned the game in the opposite direction. Bowlan hasn’t been right lately anyway, giving up runs in five straight games and a homer in three of his last five. His second-half emergence as a high-leverage arm has hit a serious wall, and that’s yet another bullpen concern to add to the pile.

This Phillies Offense Is Bad, But We Knew That

The bats didn’t do enough either. Schwarber crushed his MLB-leading 45th homer but in shocking news to absolutely no one, the offense got shut down by Jackson Kent, a rookie lefty who walked in with a 6.59 ERA and held the Phillies to four hits over five innings.

Schwarbomb.

4⃣5⃣ 💣 pic.twitter.com/CTEKIfKOzQ

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 16, 2026

When you can’t touch a struggling rookie making his seventh career start, that’s a problem, and it’s part of the same offensive malaise that’s plagued this team all September.

Zack Wheeler. Please.

The good news, if there is any, is that Zack Wheeler gets the ball Wednesday night, and the Phillies could really, really use a win. Wheeler’s been trending back toward himself, and this is exactly the kind of game where you need your ace to stop the bleeding and steady the ship.

Again, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see some of this coming. The offensive disappearing act, the shaky bullpen, the reliance on the long ball, these were the exact concerns I kept flagging even during the hot streak but being right doesn’t make it any more fun to watch.

This team is better than it’s playing, and there’s still time to right the ship. They just need to actually do it, starting Wednesday. The margin for error is shrinking. Eleven games left, a tough schedule, and a Wild Card spot to protect. It’s time to stop the slide, or this promising season is going to end in a very familiar, very frustrating way.

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