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Phillies’ bats ...

Get geared-up for the game

THE JAWN STORE

They had chances against Gray, too. But Bryson Stott grounded into a double play in the second inning, Kyle Schwarber struck out with a runner on second in the third, and the Phillies couldn’t drive in Trea Turner from second base with one out in the fourth.

With two on, one out, and Gray pressed up against his pitch limit in the fifth, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol went to the mound. He stuck with Gray against No. 9-hitting Johan Rojas, who bounced into an inning-ending double play.

And if the Phillies were just playing rope-a-dope until they faced the Cardinals’ bullpen, well, lefty reliever Matthew Liberatore got Harper to ground into a double play in the sixth before former Phillies lefty JoJo Romero wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out spot in the seventh by striking out pinch-hitting Whit Merrifield and Schwarber.

It was a continuation — the nadir, the Phillies hope — of an early-season funk in which the Phillies have scored 41 runs in 11 games. Some of the ugly numbers:

Schwarber: two hits in his last 19 at-bats.
Stott: three hits in his last 26 at-bats.
Nick Castellanos: three hits in his last 29 at-bats.
Harper: two hits in his last 14 at-bats.

Add it up, and you get Wheeler losing a game in which he gave up a solo homer to Nolan Gorman in the fourth inning and two runs in the fifth on two hits, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI groundout.

It’s a tough way to lose, and when it happens with Wheeler pitching as well as he has, it somehow feels like more than one loss.

It’s been 11 games, roughly the equivalent of Week 1 (and a few first-quarter drives in Week 2) of a football season. So, it’s inherently foolish to render many judgments from a sample so minuscule.

Let’s stick to the facts, then: The Phillies are 0-3 in games started by their ace, Zack Wheeler, who has a 1.89 ERA.

And from that, let’s say this with certainty: That can’t happen.

Wheeler tossed six scoreless innings against the Braves on opening day before the bullpen came unglued. He gave up three runs (one earned) in the rain against the Reds last week, but the offense went as cold as the weather.

And despite allowing three hard-hit balls in play to 28 batters Tuesday night, the Phillies were held to eight hits and grounded into three rally-vaporizing double plays in a 3-0 loss to the Cardinals to even a three-game series at Busch Stadium.

Oh, and it gets worse. J.T. Realmuto, the ironman catcher, exited in the seventh inning after taking a bouncing curveball off the throat under his mask. He walked off the field on his own, sans assistance, after being examined by athletic trainer Paul Buchheit.

Realmuto has been among the Phillies’ few productive hitters through the first two weeks. But even he struck out three times, including with a runner on third base after Bryce Harper rolled into a double play, in the sixth inning.

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto exited in the seventh inning after taking a bouncing curveball off the throat. Jeff Roberson / AP

The Phillies faced Sonny Gray, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract in the offseason to anchor St. Louis’ rotation. It was hardly an easy assignment for a scuffling offense.

But Gray was also making his Cardinals debut after straining his right hamstring in spring training. He was limited to about 65 pitches, so even though the veteran righty was sharp, mixing cutters, curveballs, and sweepers with his fastball, the Phillies were bound to get opportunities against the bullpen.