CHICAGO -- The flailing Phillies fought Thursday but after a ninth straight loss, they were reduced to searching for the positives in another negative result.
The Phillies' 8-7 loss to the Cubs was the first by only one run during Philadelphia's ongoing skid, which matches the club's longest since they lost nine straight in 2018. The result was the same as it has been for 10 days now, but the Phillies hope improvement in their process means better results lie just ahead.
"I feel like that's probably our brand of baseball right there," Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said. "That's the way that we should keep playing, right? Guys are going to be grinding, and guys are figuring it out. But we felt like we kept energy today. We kept fighting through it."
The Phillies overcame an early 6-2 deficit and, behind an explosive day from outfielder Brandon Marsh, managed to tie the score in the eighth. The rally was made necessary by an uncharacteristically rough day by Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, who surrendered six runs over 5⅓ innings and matched a career high by given up 12 hits.
"Overall bad outing," Sanchez said via the team's interpreter. "I think that my only good pitch today was the changeup. And I missed too many spots with the sinker."
Marsh homered twice among his three hits, drove in three and walked, setting up the Phillies' bench-led late rally. Pinch hitter Edmundo Sosa tied the score with an eighth-inning RBI single. Then after the Cubs went back ahead on a Seiya Suzuki homer, Adolis Garcia came off the bench and knotted the game with a ninth-inning blast.
Alas, the Phillies failed to score in the top of the 10th and Chicago won in the bottom of the inning on a Dansby Swanson single. It was a game effort, but in the end still a ninth straight loss, dropping the Phillies to 8-17 on the season. Afterward, the hope was that the battle itself will carry over as the Phillies depart Chicago and head for red-hot Atlanta.
"You've got to take something good out of the game, and [battling] is what it was," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "Did we lose? Yeah. Do you feel bad about that? Yeah. But they fought, and hopefully it carries over into tomorrow."
During the first eight losses of the tailspin, the Phillies were outscored 56-16 and while the Cubs' eight runs is not an improvement for the pitching staff, the seven runs scored by the Phillies' definitely was. Though Marsh led the way, the Phillies got contributions from most of the position players, including four guys who started the game on the bench.
This collective effort to the Phillies' comeback is another thing Schwarber hopes can carry over as they head out to face the division-rival Braves.
"I feel like that's a big one for us," Schwarber said. "A lot of different people today, and that's what we're going to need to have. Keep fighting, keep finding that momentum. And when guys are going to get their names called on, they're going to be ready."
The Atlanta trip will be Philadelphia's final stop on its current road trip, and after that, it's back home to face the Giants in front of the Phillies' notoriously impatient fan base. In other words, the green shoots the Phillies saw Thursday need to blossom into some wins before they return to Citizens Bank Park.
"Definitely just want the win, even if we get two hits or 20," Marsh said. "But showed some signs of life and we're going to get after it tomorrow."