As Philadelphia fans began easing their pain by turning from baseball to playoff hockey, the Phillies were getting ready to face a Cubs team that had already taken two out of three from them on their home turf, and who were now on a five-game winning streak coming off a sweep of the Mets. And this time the Phillies would have to take them on four times, hoping that somewhere in the midst of this series against a hot team, something would change.
Unfortunately, the answers the entire organization and all Philadelphia Phillies fans had been hoping for on this road trip would not be found in Chicago.
Game 1: Phillies 1, Cubs 5
Phillies Drop Sixth Straight as Club Searches for Answers
The Phillies continued their mind-boggling trend of only scoring in one inning on Monday night, falling to the Cubs 5-1 in their sixth straight loss. What started off as a rough patch has evolved into complete dysfunction, and fans are asking what the team can do to solve the mystery of the lifeless lineup.
Aaron Nola, who has struggled to find consistency going back to last season, had another tough outing giving up six hits, five runs and issuing four walks before passing the buck to the bullpen after only 4.1 innings. Meanwhile, Colin Rea had a nice day on the mound for the Cubs finishing with a solid line of 6.2 IP, 6H, 1ER, 2BB, 5SO. Rea was not only supported by his offense, he was backed by a Cubs defense that put on an absolute clinic all night.
The Phillies would continue to struggle, especially with runners in scoring position. They threatened early with bases loaded in the top of the second after Adolis Garcia and Bryson Stott hit back to back singles, followed by a walk by rookie Justin Crawford. With J.T. Realmuto still out dealing with back soreness, it would be up to backup catcher Rafael Marchan to get the scoring going with two outs.
Perhaps emblematic of everything going wrong with the team right now, their first decent offensive hope of the evening rested on a backup catcher batting 0.37 and 0 for his last 25.
Make that 0 for his last 26. He struck out. And sadly, you would be hard pressed to find a Phillies fan that was surprised.
In the bottom of the same inning, the Cubs would remind everyone what a team playing well is capable of, loading the bases on back-to-back singles and one of four walks for Aaron Nola on the night. The Phillies would eke out a double play, but a run would score giving the Cubs the early 1-0 lead.
Another walk issued by Aaron Nola would make the 1-0 lead shortlived as Dansby Swanson launched one out of the park extending the Cubs lead to 4-0.
Goose on the Field, Goose Egg on the Scoreboard for the Phillies.
The most exciting moment for the Phillies in the third was when a Canadian goose wandered around shallow left field, abruptly making its escape by air when Michael Busch lined one that was too close for comfort, once again loading the bases for the Cubs with only one out. A Michael Conforto sac fly would bring the Cubs lead to 5-0 as the Phils continued to lay an egg.
The Phillies only offense once again came in a single inning, this time the top of the fourth. A deep RBI double to center field by Justin Crawford that was just out of the reach of a diving Pete Crow-Armstrong allowed Bryson Stott to score from first base, getting the Phillies on the scoreboard.
The 5-1 score would stand for the rest of the night, as the pitching staff for both teams handled their business. The Phillies did have a chance to draw closer in the top of the eighth with two men on, but Bryson Stott’s pop-out would extend the Phillies streak absolutely no one asked for—0 for their last 21 with runners in scoring position.
As the team continues to look for answers, time may not only be running out for their manager, but also for their hopes of making it to the postseason this year.
Game 2: Phillies 4, Cubs 7
Rats! Phillies Losing Streak Extends to Seven Games, Five Straight Series
Jesús Luzardo would take the mound in game two, going up against Shota Imanaga for the Cubs who had managed to get the Phillies to strike out eleven times in his start in Philadelphia. Luzardo is still looking for consistency this season after some unsteady outings have led to discussions around him possibly tipping pitches again—an issue that he worked hard to correct after last season when he allowed 20 earned runs in two starts before making adjustments.
Early on it looked like it could be another rough outing for the left-hander, as the Cubs would put traffic on the bases early and often, including bases loaded in the bottom of the third. Bryce Harper would help out his pitcher in a big way with great play down the first base line to corral a high pop-up in foul territory before making a quick throw to keep a run from scoring. Luzardo would get a quick grounder to end the inning, keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0.
The bottom of the fifth would see the first offense of the night, as the Cubs would force Luzardo out of the game with two men on and two out. Orion Kerkering would once again be called upon to clean up a dirty inning, and he started off shaky, quickly walking Dansby Swanson to load the bases. Kerkering locked in, getting ahead of pinch hitter Moises Ballesteros 0-2, but the big man battled back to a full count. Kerkering challenged him again with a 98.2 MPH four-seam fastball—a perfect pitch for strike three on the corner to end the inning—only it was didn’t. The umpire did not call the strike, instead issuing ball four, allowing a run to walk home and leaving fans wondering exactly what ABS challenges are for, if not for moments exactly like this.
With two challenges remaining, overturning that call would not only have kept the game scoreless, it would have ended the inning with three runners stranded. This felt like a massive missed opportunity as all replays pointed to the pitch tagging the corner of the zone—just another “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong” moment for this struggling team.
The Phillies would be lucky to escape the inning down only 1-0, and Kyle Schwarber would quickly tie the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth with a solo home run. But even as Phillies color analyst Ruben Amaro, Jr. gushed over Kyle always being able to get the team going, fans knew there was absolutely no guarantee this would get something started, and the Cubs would quickly shut down even the faintest hope in the bottom of the sixth.
With Tanner Banks out of the pen for the Phillies, the Cubs would take a 3-1 lead in the sixth and tack on another three in the seventh. Tim Mayza would give up an RBI to Nico Hoerner and a two-run homer to Seiya Suzuki, as the Cubs would start to pull away with a 6-1 lead.
If Bryce Harper Can’t Save This Team, Who Can?
Bryce Harper would try to put the team on his back in the top of the eighth, taking Christopher Martin deep for his fifth home run of the year, and pulling the Phillies back within three. The only other excitement for the Phillies in the inning would be fleeing from the rat scurrying along the front of the dugout. For a second straight game, wildlife seemed to be more interesting to watch than this Phillies team.
And as has been the theme for the Phillies in this difficult early going, while Harper’s home run helped to close the gap, it was easy come, easy go. Jose Alvarado would give one of the runs back in the bottom of the eighth on a wild pitch before exiting the game with back spasms.
The Phillies would once again try the old “too little too late” rally in the ninth, but would only manage to get one back on an Alec Bohm sac fly, once again stranding base runners on their way to a final score of 7-4 and their seventh straight loss—the first time the Phillies have lost seven in a row since 2019.
In addition to dropping another game, the Phillies will lose catcher J.T. Realmuto to the 10-Day IL with a lower back injury he has been dealing with since April 17th when he tweaked it trying to make a play at the plate. Garrett Stubbs will come up from Lehigh to split time with Rafael Marchan, and people will instantly wonder if the man dubbed the “Chief Vibes Officer” can do anything to breathe some semblance of life back into this team.
Game 3: Phillies 2, Cubs 7
Phillies Go Down Again—Own Longest Active Losing Streak in Baseball
The Phillies would continue to throw everything but the kitchen sink at their problems on Wednesday night in Chicago, starting reliever Kyle Backhus as an opener for Taijuan Walker, who’s 24.75 ERA in the first inning so far this season, had been burying his team before the games really even got going. In Walker’s last start against the Atlanta Braves on April 17th, he allowed seven earned runs in the first four innings—a lead that is tough to chase for any offense, let alone one as beleaguered as the Phillies in 2026.
With an offense coming into the game 0 for their last 26 with runners in scoring position, taking on another early deficit was not a game plan the Phillies could continue to sustain.
Backhus ran into trouble early, as Nico Hoerner and Alex Bregman would hit their way onto the corners to start the inning, but was able to limit the damage to just one run.
The Phillies would respond in the top of the second as Edmundo Sosa would finally break the team’s 0-26 streak with runners in scoring position with a line drive RBI double into left field scoring rookie Felix Reyes and moving Alec Bohm to third. A bouncing groundout by another Phillies rookie, center fielder Justin Crawford, would get Bohm home and give the Phillies the 2-1 lead—their first lead against the Chicago Cubs in 26 innings.
Taijuan Walker would enter the game in the bottom of the second and was met immediately by bad luck and bad defense, as Justin Crawford would drop an easily catchable pop-up allowing Miguel Amaya to reach second safely with no outs. Pete Crow-Armstrong would cash in on the mistake sending a deep drive off the wall at center, scoring Amaya and reminding Phillies fans what good situational baseball and capitalizing on the other team’s errors looks like.
With the game tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the third, the Cubs hot hitting would continue with Alex Bregman just missing a home run off the top of the wall, instead settling for a stand up triple. Once again the Cubs would capitalize with runners in scoring position as Ian Happ sliced one through the gap into left, scoring Bregman and taking the lead back for the Cubs 3-2. Michael Busch would add a solo shot later in the inning for good measure, padding their lead to 4-2.
The Cubs would go on to add two more in the fifth thanks to a two-run home run by Seiya Suzuki, his second two-run shot in as many games. In the bottom of the 8th, the Cubs ability to score consistently across innings was on full display, as they manufactured one more run to give them a 7-2 victory on the evening—this time it was Pete Crow-Armstrong with the RBI sending Moises Ballesteros home from second after his double off of Phillies minor league call-up reliever Alan Rangel.
With another lopsided score heading into the top of the ninth, the game would end with the Phillies getting their final out on an ABS challenge that turned a ball into strike three for Rafael Marchan, abruptly putting an end to what was realistically not going to be an epic comeback by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Another fittingly brutal end to a stretch of eight straight losses—now the longest losing streak in baseball after the Mets were able to snap their losing streak with a 3-2 win against the Minnesota Twins.
With another series loss in the books, the Phillies will try to avoid yet another sweep on Thursday afternoon, as April begins to slip away taking more hope along with it after each passing day. As the losses continue to pile up, fans will wonder—exactly when is the point of no return?
With no real sign that the Phillies have what it takes to turn things around, it certainly feels like the point of no return is hurtling toward us.
Game 4: Phillies 7, Cubs 8
Phillies Can’t Finish Comeback, Fall to Cubs in the Tenth
As the Phillies were desperate to end their eight game losing streak and avoid a four game sweep at Wrigley Field, the Cubs looked to bring their winning streak to nine. The game would begin on the heels of the news that struggling Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker had been released in anticipation of Zack Wheeler’s return this Saturday. After several seasons of failing to live up to his hefty price tag, the Phillies would finally cut bait and let Walker go, despite being saddled with the $15.2 million remaining on his contract.
While Taijuan Walker was no fan favorite, he was by all accounts loved by his teammates. Would heads beginning to roll finally light a fire?
With ace Cristopher Sanchez taking the mound, it certainly felt like the opportunity to turn things around. But it seems that no one on this Phillies team is safe from the slump, and once again the red hot Chicago Cubs had an answer—make contact, manufacture runs, win ball games. A simple but effective game plan that the Phillies fans have been dying to see their own ball club execute.
Sanchez would surrender six runs on a career-worst 12 hits in 5.1IP and was only able to manage a staggeringly low four strikeouts on the day before Rob Thomson came to collect him.
On the other side of the ball, Brandon Marsh would do everything in his power to pick his team up, finishing the day 3-4 with a walk and 3 RBI, including two home runs—his third career multi-home run game. His second home run of the day in the top of the seventh would start the Phillies on the comeback path.
After starting the inning down 6-2, the Marsh home run would cut the lead to 6-3, followed by a Bryson Stott single and an Alec Bohm double giving the Phillies runners on second and third with only one out. It looked like Justin Crawford would make the second out with a broken bat grounder to third, but a rare throwing error by Alex Bregman allowed Crawford to pull into first safely as Stott scored. Backup Catcher Garrett Stubbs would contribute in his first game for the big club this season, with a sac fly pulling the Phillies within one at 6-5.
Unfortunately the rally would end there, as a rough day for Trea Turner continued with a flyout to end the inning. Turner would end the day 0-4 with a walk.
The Fightins did actually put up a real fight today, putting the pressure on in the eighth with an RBI pinch hit single by Edmundo Sosa to tie the game. But once again, the Cubs had an answer as Brad Keller would surrender the lead back on a home run by Seiya Suzuki, who had now taken the Phillies deep in three straight.
The Phillies would not go quietly. Down a run once more going into the ninth, Adolis Garcia would match Suzuki’s solo shot with one of his own to once again tie the game. Unfortunately the Phillies could not find a way to take the lead, and with star closer Jhoan Duran on the injured list, they would have to turn to Jose Alvarado to keep them deadlocked and force extras.
Alvarado did not disappoint and the Phillies lived to fight another day going into the tenth.
Tanner Banks would be tasked with the tenth, quickly finding himself in a bases loaded jam. It was over in a flash. Dansby Swanson ended the Phillies comeback and hopes for turning around the early season struggles with one swing—a walk-off RBI into right field.
Nine losses in a row. Five straight series losses. Two consecutive sweeps. Bottom of the NL East. Worst record in the National League. Worst run differential in all of baseball.
Pain.
What’s Next? Is this Rock Bottom or Will the Braves Dig the Phillies’ Early Grave?
The Phillies now have to head to Atlanta to take on a Braves team that just swept them out of their own ballpark less than one week ago. As the Phillies struggle to find a way to scrape together a single win, they’ll have to once again clash with a Braves squad that is currently one of the best in baseball, with a rotation that is leading all of MLB in ERA and a lineup that has been manufacturing runs at a blistering pace.
Can the Phillies finally figure things out, or will the Braves, already up nine and a half games, bury them in the division before the calendar has even flipped to May?
