Close, but still not good enough: Cubs 8, Phillies 7

Apr 23, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs center fielder Matt Shaw (6) steals second base as Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) stands nearby during the fifth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Phillies finally showed some signs of life, but nevertheless they still couldn’t manage to finally break their losing streak, which has now extended to nine games. They erased a 6-2 deficit and tied it at 7-7 in the ninth, but ultimately, they couldn’t find a way to win in extras while Dansby Swanson walked it off for the Cubs to win 8-7. Brandon Marsh went 4-5 with two home runs and three RBIs in a losing effort.

Marsh’s first homer gave the Phillies the lead in the second inning, but Cristopher Sánchez quickly surrendered the lead in what would become a recurring theme for Phillies pitchers all day. It took the Cubs just three batters to tie the game after a Carson Kelly double, a Michael Bush single, and a Swanson sacrifice fly. It only got worse for Sánchez from there, as the Cubs hammered him for 6 runs and an eye-popping 12 hits in just 5.1 innings, both tying his career worst. Two of those hits were home runs, with the biggest one being a three-run blast from Busch in the third that extended the deficit to 4-1.

Marsh once again came through and singled in a run in the fourth to cut that deficit in half, but Sánchez again immediately gave that run right back on a home run to Ian Happ as the second batter of the bottom of the fourth. Busch would add another RBI in the sixth, this time with a single off of Chase Shugart who was on in relief of Sánchez.

But instead of rolling over, the Phillies showed a spark for the first time in weeks in the seventh, starting when Marsh tallied his second homer to cut the score to 6-3. Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm followed with a single and a double to put two runners on with one out. That’s when Justin Crawford hit a weak grounder to third baseman Alex Bregman, but Bregman launched the throw past Busch at first, allowing Stott to score and Bohm to go to third. Garrett Stubbs then successfully drove in Bohm with a sacrifice fly to draw the Phillies within one before Trea Turner flew out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

The eighth inning brought another Phillies rally, this time started by an impressive nine pitch walk by Bryce Harper against Hoby Milner with one out. Felix Reyes then grounded into a force out and was substituted with Dylan Moore who successfully stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. It was now Marsh’s turn to work an impressive at bat against the “nasty” left-hander Milner, fouling off four pitches and heading to first after eight pitches. Right hander Jacob Webb entered to face the pinch-hitting Edmundo Sosa, who lined the first pitch back up the middle to tie the game at 6-6. Bohm picked up the third walk of the inning for the Phillies to load the bases, but Crawford struck out to end the threat.

Once again though, the Phillies pitching failed to get a shutdown inning, as Seiya Suzuki homered on just the second pitch thrown by Brad Keller, a center cut 95 MPH fastball. Keller was then able to retire the next three hitters, but the Phillies once again trailed by one. Except this time, they answered right back as well, as pinch-hitting Adolis Garcia homered to left field off of Cubs acting closer Caleb Thielbar in the ninth, once again tying the score at 7-7.

Turner and Kyle Schwarber followed with walks to put two on with still no outs. Harper hit a ball just off the end of the bat that went for a fly ball that moved Turner to third with one out, but Moore and Marsh were unable to bring the go-ahead run home.

José Alvarado worked around a one out double to Moisés Ballesteros in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extras. With Marsh serving as the ghost runner, Sosa, Bohm, and Crawford failed to get the run home, leaving the game tied. Tanner Banks entered to pitch the bottom of the 10th and intentionally walked Suzuki before allowing a single to Kelly to load the bases. Banks was able to strike out Busch after a challenge but couldn’t finish off Swanson despite being in an 0-2 count, as the Cubs shortstop successfully got the ball to the outfield to win the game and finish off the four game sweep.

Tomorrow’s matchup

The Phillies will once again look to snap their losing streak when they send Andrew Painter (1-1, 4.42) to the mound in Atlanta to face Grant Holmes (1-1, 3.42). First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 pm.