Stars' absences looming over stagnant Phillies offense

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies know they might need to get creative to generate offense without Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in the lineup for the time being.

Look no further than manager Rob Thomson making the rare decision to pinch-hit for his starting catcher in the seventh inning on Saturday afternoon.

It didn't work.

Philadelphia scored just two runs for the second time in as many games without its star duo in a 3-2 loss to the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. The absences of Harper and Schwarber -- on top of already missing starting catcher J.T. Realmuto -- have certainly been noticeable.

The Phillies are just 12-for-59 (.203) over the past two games. They're 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position -- and the lone hit was a single that didn't score a run. Their four runs in that span have come on a pair of sacrifice flies, a run-scoring groundout and Garrett Stubbs' solo home run on Saturday.

"We didn't have many chances today," Thomson said. "We've got to get on base, try not to do too much, and eventually, you're going to score."

The best chance on Saturday came in the fifth, when Bryson Stott singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out for the new-look heart of the order. Stott's single, however, would prove to be the Phillies' final hit of the game.

They scored just one run in the frame, with Alec Bohm hitting a sac fly between strikeouts by Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh.

Turner struck out chasing a slider in the dirt off the plate. He finished 0-for-4 and committed his sixth error of the season.

"I mean, you want to do the same thing, right?" Turner said of playing shorthanded. "But I think sometimes guys try a little bit harder in situations. I know, today, that was probably the case with me -- just trying to do a little too much and missing some good pitches to hit, then started chasing."

Thomson also changed up his typical approach when he pinch-hit Whit Merrifield for Stubbs to lead off the bottom of the seventh. The Phils had just given up two runs in the top half to turn a one-run lead into a one-run deficit.

Merrifield grounded out before giving way to Rafael Marchán, who caught the final two frames without incident. For those wondering, Kody Clemens is the club's emergency catcher.

"You've got to be careful, you can't do it too early in the game," Thomson said of pinch-hitting for his catcher with only one backup on the bench. "The seventh, for me, is actually a little bit earlier than I'd like to, but I thought we'd try to change the momentum right there."

Philadelphia managed only one baserunner over the final four innings -- and that came on Stott's two-out walk in the seventh.

As a team, the Phils did not hit a single ball with a triple-digit exit velocity in Saturday's loss. They had topped 100 mph at least twice in every game this season previously.

And all of that came against a Marlins pitching staff that entered Saturday ranked 26th in the Majors in both team ERA (4.54) and opponents' hard-hit rate (40.7%).

On Friday, the Phillies faced a starter in Kyle Tyler who was making just his second career start. On Saturday, they took on a young pitcher in Roddery Muñoz, who entered as the only player in AL/NL history to give up at least 14 home runs through his first seven career starts.

But Stubbs -- who hadn't homered since Sept. 27 last season and had just one extra-base hit in 94 plate appearances this season -- was the only Phillie with a run-scoring hit against Muñoz.

"The guys that are here are more than capable of creating runs," Thomson said. "They've just got to stay within themselves and do what they can do."

The Phillies’ pitching staff figures to keep doing its part with its MLB-best 3.04 ERA.

Cristopher Sánchez tossed his first career shutout to make two runs hold up on Friday. Aaron Nola struck out nine and walked zero while allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings on Saturday.

“We take every game the same, no matter what our lineup is,” Nola siad. “Obviously, it sucks to not have those guys in the lineup. But we're kind of lucky that it's happening right now so those guys can get back.”

Until then, the Phillies will need someone else to get the big hit.

"We've got a lot of good players still, even with the guys we have out,” Turner said. “The pitching is still there, obviously, so we're in each and every game.

“We know we're just one hit away.”