Mick Abel has faced a tougher lineup each time out as a big-leaguer and his third start on Tuesday wasn't nearly as effective as the first two.
He left three balls up against the Cubs and paid for all three mistakes with homers by Dansby Swanson in the second inning, Ian Happ in the third and Michael Busch in the fourth of an 8-4 Phillies loss.
Abel was able to strike out the dangerous Kyle Tucker on his 30th pitch of the fourth inning to end a bases-loaded jam but it also ended his night. He walked three after pitching 11⅓ innings without one in his first two starts against the Pirates and Blue Jays.
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SIGN UP HERE ”The Busch one was kind of a flat fastball left over the plate,” Abel said. “The one to Dansby, I’ll give him all the credit in the world, he just smashed it, top-rope.”
The Phillies came back to take the lead in the middle innings on a two-run single to left-center by Alec Bohm, one of their only hot hitters. Earlier, Max Kepler hit a Citizens Bank Park cheapie to the first row in right-center for the Phils' first two runs.
But Happ, who has hurt the Phillies badly in the two games of this series, answered with a two-out, two-run homer off a middle-in Taijuan Walker cutter in the sixth to put the Cubs ahead. They broke it open with three more in the top of the eighth off Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez.
The Cubs are second in MLB to the Dodgers in runs per game and rank in the top five in homers, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and steals. They've been a complete offense in 2025, much more dynamic than the Phillies, and leads haven't felt safe this week.
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The Phils are 38-29 heading into the final meeting of the season between the two teams Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. A win would clinch them the series and the season series, with all of these games potentially mattering for seeding come playoff time.
Before any of that matters, though, the Phillies need to find some semblance of offensive consistency. They've scored more than four runs twice in their last 12 games, going 2-10. They don't have much of an offensive identity, especially without Bryce Harper. At many times during the four years with this core, the Phillies have been a powerful offense, a selective offense, one capable of taxing and beating even elite setup men and closers. But they're none of those things right now, at least not consistently. They're more of a station-to-station, singles-based offense that doesn't have great speed and isn't picking enough big blows with runners in scoring position.
“The last couple weeks, wins, losses, guys getting hurt, it feels like anything that can go wrong has gone wrong,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said.
“I know we say it all the time but that’s part of the game, it happens every season. We went through a stretch just like this last year. We’ve just got to do our best to press forward. We know we’re a good team, there’s a lot of talent in this clubhouse. We’ve got to get through this stretch as fast as we can and move on.”
The National League is tougher this year. A playoff berth can't be assumed. The Phillies began the night four games behind the Mets in the NL East and tied with the Giants for the top wild-card spot but only 1½ games ahead of the Cardinals, the first team out. The Brewers, Reds and D-backs aren't too far behind. There's a ton of baseball left, 95 games, but there will be no cruising to October this year.
There was no update Tuesday on Harper's inflamed right wrist. He continues to receive treatment and won't swing for a little while. It is unclear when he will return but it doesn't seem like it will be next Monday when Harper is first eligible.
The update on Aaron Nola was worse. Nola has a stress reaction in his right rib on top of the sprained right ankle that initially landed him on the injured list on May 15. It is highly unlikely Nola will return before the All-Star break in mid-July. When he does rejoin the Phillies' rotation, he'll have missed more than two months.
It will mean a substantially longer runway for Abel, who is currently occupying Nola's rotation spot. He wasn't at his best Tuesday and we'll now see how Abel responds to his first bit of big-league adversity.
To add insult to injury, Brandon Marsh exited after the fifth inning Tuesday with left elbow soreness after finally heating up for the first time in 2025. He appeared to jam the arm on a slide when stealing second base. Marsh had been 5-for-7 during a season-best three-game hitting streak.
”He kind’ve hyperextended it so there’s some soreness,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He’ll be day-to-day.”