Enhanced Box Score: Phillies 5, Cubs 3 – July 3, 2024 – Bleacher Nation

The losing continues. Decisions become easier by the day. That might be the only positive I can take away.

Shōta Imanaga pitched well enough tonight – well, I should say well enough if he were supported by a decent offense and a strong bullpen. Unfortunately, a Quality Start is not really good enough for this year’s team.

Little mistakes: making errors, getting picked off, failing to corral a pitch, so on and so on. There are always two or three of these things that happen seemingly every day. They add up. They cause runs. They lose games.

A good night for Pete Crow-Armstrong, with a couple doubles and a stolen base, as well as a hard line out to center that came after a really good battle at the plate. (The Ankin Law “Making It Personal” Player of the Game.) It came with a pretty bad cut on his thumb after being spiked on a slide at third base, and although he stayed in the game, I wonder if he might get a day or two off if it impacts his throws or his swing.

Even without two of their best hitters, the Phillies are the better team. Not that you didn’t know that coming into this series, of course, but this week has certainly been a reminder. It’s a bummed-out kind of night.

Full box score.