ST. LOUIS — The Phillies knew they'd have to deal with Sonny Gray for only 65 or so pitches Tuesday night but were unable to square up the Cardinals starter or any of their relievers in a 3-0 loss.
They stranded runners all throughout another quiet offensive night and also lost J.T. Realmuto to a neck contusion. The workhorse catcher exited in the bottom of the seventh inning after taking a bouncing Zack Wheeler curveball right off the throat.
It remains to be seen whether Realmuto will be in Wednesday's lineup but with the short turnaround (1:15 p.m. ET), Garrett Stubbs could get the start.
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The Phillies had just four singles off Gray, who signed a three-year, $75 million contract just after Thanksgiving. They struck out five times against him and grounded into two inning-ending double plays.
They had their chances, particularly in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
Trea Turner was in scoring position with less than two outs in the fourth, but Gray struck out Bryce Harper and Realmuto to quell the threat.
The Phils put men on first and second in the fifth on consecutive singles by Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh but Johan Rojas bounced into a 6-4-3.
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They had a prime scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth after Matthew Liberatore walked the first two batters he faced, Kyle Schwarber and Turner. Harper grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and Realmuto whiffed for the third time.
Same deal in the top of the seventh, when the Phillies loaded the bases with one out but stranded them as Whit Merrifield and Schwarber struck out.
"I don't know if everybody's (trying too hard) but that typically happens when you're going through something like this," manager Rob Thomson said. "They've just got to relax and get back to their game."
The 5-6 Phillies have hit .191 with men on base (last in the National League) and scored 41 runs through 11 games, an average of 3.7. They averaged 4.9 runs a season ago.
"You can talk about your at-bats, you can talk about plays in the field, but there's no rah-rah," Schwarber said. "We know we've been here, we've done it. We've just got to be able to keep consistently putting in the work. The uncontrollables of the game, ball leaves your bat, uncontrollable after that. It's all about the process before that. The way we see our guys work on a daily basis, it's one of the best I've seen. It just comes down to us at the end of the day being able to execute."
Five of their everyday players — Turner, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Castellanos and Rojas — have yet to homer. Castellanos, who had two singles on Tuesday, is still searching for his first extra-base hit.
Bohm is hitting .237, Stott .206, Schwarber .205, Castellanos .154 and Rojas .148. Merrifield, who struck out pinch-hitting for Rojas with one out and the sacks full in the seventh, is 3-for-18. The only Phillies with an OPS of .800 or better are Harper and Marsh.
"We're not creating any slug right now and that's part of our M.O.," Thomson said. "I think the last few games we've been pretty good with staying in the strike zone. Tonight, we got out of the zone a little bit."
Former Phillies left-handed reliever JoJo Romero, who was traded for Edmundo Sosa in July 2022, recorded five outs with four strikeouts (Merrifield, Schwarber, Harper and Garrett Stubbs) to get the Cardinals to the ninth inning.
Pitching has carried the Phillies through their first four series but the starter can't deliver goose eggs every night. Wheeler opened with 3⅔ scoreless innings before catching too much plate with a 94 mph fastball to Nolan Gorman, who hit it 440 feet to dead-center for a solo home run.
Wheeler was visibly frustrated in the fifth inning after being squeezed on at least two pitches by home plate umpire Alex MacKay. Alec Burleson singled and Masyn Winn doubled to put two runners in scoring position with no outs and they scored on a flyball to left field and a dribbler up the first-base line.
Wheeler pitched seven innings and Ricardo Pinto had the eighth. Jose Alvarado and Seranthony Dominguez were unavailable Tuesday after appearing in three of the prior four games. Jeff Hoffman was likely down, too, after throwing 25 pitches Monday, two days after going 1⅔ innings.
Everyone in the 'pen should be in play Wednesday afternoon when the Phillies face the Cardinals in a 1:15 p.m. game to conclude their six-game road trip. They're 3-2 thus far. Aaron Nola makes his third start, opposite burly right-hander Lance Lynn, who's allowed a major-league-high 47 home runs since the start of last season.
That's if the game is played. Rain is in the forecast from noon onward in St. Louis.