Knapp scores winner in 9th for Phillies in 6-5 win over Cubs

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew Knapp scored on a passed ball in the ninth inning to bolster the Philadelphia Phillies’ tenuous playoff push with a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.

The Phillies bullpen blew it in the late innings. Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer off Jose Alvarado that tied it 4-all in the eighth. Matt Duffy hit a solo shot off Ian Kennedy (2-1) in the ninth and tied it at 5.

J.T. Realmuto led off the eighth inning with his 15th homer of the season in a topsy-turvy final two innings for a club clinging to playoff aspirations.

Knapp led off the ninth with a single off Trevor Megill (1-2) and advanced to third on a sacrifice and a groundout. Chirinos couldn’t get a handle on Megill’s knuckle-curve and Knapp scooted home with the winning run.

The Phillies entered 4 1/2 games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East and three games behind St. Louis in the wild-card race. San Diego and Cincinnati are ahead of the Phillies for the second wild card with 17 games left this season.

Time is running out for the Phillies to make a serious move, yet the schedule remained in their favor: After finishing their three-game set with the Cubs on Thursday, the Phillies play 10 straight games against teams with losing records. Then, a three-game set in Atlanta to close September.

“The interesting thing is that all the other teams are losing, too,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “So we’re still in this.”

Barely.

Alvarado wasted another solid outing by righty Ranger Suarez. He struck out a career-high eight over six innings. He made his 10th start of the season out of 37 appearances and has a 1.50 ERA over 90 innings.

The Phillies have leaned more on Bryce Harper to keep them in the race.

He led off the fourth with a double off Cubs starter Alec Mills...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Knapp-scores-winner-in-9th-for-Phillies-in-6-5-16462936.php