PHILADELPHIA _ Jean Segura shrugged his shoulders Saturday night and smiled at Hector Neris, who pointed from the mound. Segura had made a terrific, leaping catch to snare a line drive, keep Boston's go-ahead run at third base, and allow the Phillies to think for a moment that they might be able to squelch a rally.
But the catch was just the first out in the ninth inning, and Neris still had a long way to go. The Red Sox dispatched Brock Holt and Andrew Benintendi as pinch hitters, and the game was no longer tied.
Holt walked on four pitches, and Benintendi hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to lead to a Phillies' 2-1 loss. Segura's catch just delayed the inevitable.
The Phillies struck out 15 times, left eight runners on base, wasted a fine start from Aaron Nola, and fell another game behind in the wild-card race. They have lost five consecutive Nola starts and trail the Cubs by 3 {-games for the National League's second wild-card spot.
The Phillies have just 15 games left. If the Cubs play .500 the rest of the way, the Phillies would have to go 11-4 to tie.
Nola allowed just one run in seven innings, but that's all the Phillies could score, as they went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. Cesar Hernandez started the ninth with a walk, but the next three batters went down. In the eighth, Rhys Hoskins flied out to deep right field with runners on second and third, as the Phillies wasted another rally.
The Red Sox scored a run off Nola in the seventh, but then allowed their starting pitcher to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. Eduardo Rodriguez had just 20 plate appearances before Saturday night, none of which ended with him on base or even hitting a ball out of the infield. He's an American League pitcher.
His pitching on Saturday was excellent, as he held the Phillies to one run in 6 2/3 innings, struck out 12, and allowed just four hits. And it was strong enough for Red Sox manager Alex Cora to believe that a one-run lead would be enough to beat the Phillies. It turned out they just needed one more. Rodriguez struck out with the bases loaded to end the seventh inning.
The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the inning against Rodriguez, who hit Adam Haseley to load the bases and walked Maikel Franco with a full count to force in a run. Boston went to its bullpen and brought in left-hander Josh Taylor to strike out Phil Gosselin to leave the bases loaded.
Nola held the Red Sox to one run on four hits. He struck out nine and walked just three. He was dominant until the seventh, when the right-hander seemed to run out of gas. The Red Sox loaded the bases, and Nola had thrown 98 pitches. Mike Morin was warmed in the bullpen. This seemed like the end.
Instead, pitching coach Chris Young went to the mound for a brief chat. Nola forced Gorkys Hernandez to ground out to third base. Maikel Franco fielded it and fired home for the second out. The inning was not done yet. But it would soon be, as the Red Sox were allowing their pitcher to walk to the batter's box. The Phillies still had a chance. But soon that would be moot.
