Wild Card-hopeful Phillies lose once again in blowout fashion to D-backs

The Philadelphia Phillies lost 12-3 Tuesday night to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Once again, the Philadelphia Phillies fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday after a tough defeat the night prior. The loss makes it another series defeat in the Grand Canyon State.

Aaron Nola was shelled early — surrendering eight earned runs in just four innings. Five of those runs came in the second inning. Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen outpitched Nola and went seven innings and gave up no earned runs — extending his scoreless innings streak to 34 1/3.

The offense sputtered a bit and did not score until the eighth inning when Brandon Marsh hit his first home run as a Phillie — knocking in Matt Vierling and Garrett Stubbs.

Other than the Marsh home run, the Phils did not plate another run. The team will look to avoid getting swept on Wednesday as it turns to Bailey Falter — who is taking the place of the injured Zack Wheeler.

After the three consecutive losses, interim manager Rob Thomson’s squad now holds just a half-game lead for the second National League Wild Card spot over the San Diego Padres.

Looking ahead, the Phillies will travel to San Francisco to play a weekend series against Gabe Kapler and the Giants. The Phillies have not won a series there since 2011 — right after they traded for outfielder Hunter Pence.

The Phillies will need to find ways to win series that they should. For some reason, they have not fared well out west. Amid a postseason run, losing games in the fashion that they have the last two nights causes some concern among the Phillies faithful.

It is important to note that the Phils hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against both the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers — both teams who are closest in the chase for the final Wild Card spots in the National League.

While the last few games have been insufferable, it is not time to panic just yet.