PHILADELPHIA -- A day after getting overmatched by Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler, the D-backs didn’t have any answers for left-hander Cristopher Sánchez in a 4-1 rubber-game loss on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

Arizona collected three hits (all singles) against Sánchez, who pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out four batters. The D-backs didn’t have a runner in scoring position until Geraldo Perdomo’s leadoff double in the ninth.

“Their starter had a really good day. He was filling the strike zone,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “He had a really good swing-and-miss changeup with a lot of depth in the hitting zone. He kept us off-balance.”

The D-backs’ offense has been inconsistent in the last two weeks as the team is 8-7 in its last 15 games. The offense averaged just 1.8 runs per game with a batting average of 187 in those seven losses.

“When you have guys like Wheeler, and when Sánchez was throwing the ball effectively like he has been, I’m not going to dwell on it,” Lovullo said. “Certainly there are some things I wish we did differently. When you have [opponents] that are throwing the ball that well, that happens.

“It’s always a concern when we lose games when we don’t hit. It’s a concern when we lose games and we don’t pitch. And that’s my job. We have to find out what’s going on. We have to make sure we are pushing in the right direction, which I’m sure we are.”

Once Sánchez was out of the game, Arizona had a chance to at least tie the game in the ninth inning against right-hander Jeff Hoffman.

After Perdomo scored on a single by Ketel Marte, the D-backs had runners on first and third with two outs and Christian Walker at the plate. But the game ended when Walker grounded out to third.

“We fought hard. We brought the [potential] tying run to the plate in the ninth inning,” Lovullo said. “It’s one of the great characteristics about this team that I enjoy the most. They never shut down. They always feel they have a fighting chance.”

Lovullo was looking for a fighting chance against Philadelphia’s lineup. He decided to go with a matchup game and use five pitchers -- Slade Cecconi, Brandon Hughes, Justin Martinez, Joe Mantiply and Bryce Jarvis. They all kept Arizona in the game for eight innings, but there were blemishes, and they proved costly.

Cecconi started the finale and allowed a second-inning RBI single to Nick Castellanos. Cecconi didn’t go any further than the three innings because Lovullo felt his bullpen had a better shot at getting outs against a Philadelphia lineup that included Trea Turner, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

“When I looked at their lineup this morning, I was trying to figure out the best strategy to keep the Phillies down and I thought the race was going to be to three runs,” Lovullo said. “Whoever had three runs was going to win the game. I just felt the matchups we had were the right matchups.”

But it was the bottom of the Phillies’ lineup that did the damage in the sixth inning with Martinez on the mound. David Dahl singled to right field, scoring Bryson Scott and Brandon Marsh to make it 3-0. It didn’t help that Martinez committed a balk to put runners on second and third before the single by Dahl.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Martinez had held opponents scoreless in 20 of his previous 22 appearances.

“There were a couple of missed executions. It was just a bad day,” Martinez said through interpreter Rolando Valles. “I was trying to get a ground ball and [the pitch] elevated.”