Disastrous sixth inning dooms the Phillies in a 10-4 loss to Cubs

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 14, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — It was a pre-planned day off, Rob Thomson maintained, designed to prevent Edmundo Sosa from rusting after being out of the Phillies’ lineup for a week.

Surely, though, it was about Alec Bohm.

Off to a 9 for 58 start, removed from the cleanup spot, and dealing with turmoil in his personal life stemming from the lawsuit that he filed against his parents, Bohm could probably use a day, maybe even two or three, to clear his head.

So there was Sosa, filling in at third base and smashing a slider onto Ashburn Alley in the second inning Tuesday night in what appeared to be a win-win for the Phillies.

Except they lost.

The Phillies lost, 10-4 to the Chicago Cubs, because Aaron Nola didn’t hold an early three-run lead and lefty revelation Tim Mayza sprung a leak in the sixth inning. And for good measure, Bohm pinch-hit with the bases loaded in the eighth and struck out.

Oof.

Make it four losses in seven games, setting the Phillies up for a Wednesday night rubber match to avoid a third consecutive losing series.

Sosa will certainly be in the lineup. Not only did he go deep against Cubs righty Colin Rea, but he started a double play with a nifty backhand stop in the eighth inning and acted like a human snooze alarm for the offense with a leadoff double and an aggressive tag-up to third on a fly ball to score from third on a single.

Oh, and besides, lefty Shota Imanaga will start for the Cubs. And Sosa almost always plays against lefties.

The question: Will he play third base again, or second?

Back to that in a moment. First, a reckoning of the wreck of a sixth inning from Mayza, who earned the trust of inheriting a 3-3 game by beginning the season with 8 2/3 scoreless innings, including a stretch of 23 consecutive batters retired.

Nola threw only 87 pitches but labored through most of his five innings. He rolled a double play to escape a two-on, one out spot in the second. He gave up two runs in the third and another in the fifth.

So, it was Mayza’s turn in the sixth. He issued a one-out walk, hit a batter and still might’ve gotten out of it if his throw on a potential double-play comebacker hadn’t been wide of second base.

Instead, the bases were loaded for Nico Hoerner, who lined a two-run single. Mayza walked Michael Busch and was lifted for Brad Keller, who gave up a two-run single to Alex Bregman for a 7-3 Cubs lead.

All the runs were charged to Mayza.

The Phillies made it interesting in the eighth. After Sosa scored on Trea Turner’s single, Kyle Schwarber also singled. Bryce Harper came up as the tying run and worked a six-pitch at-bat against lefty Caleb Thielbar before striking out on a low-and-away fastball.

But Adolis García walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. And because all Phillies roads seem to lead back to Bohm in the early weeks of the season, Thomson called on him to face Thielbar.

Bohm took a curveball for a strike, swung through a fastball, fouled off a heater, then foul-tipped a slider into the catcher’s mitt for the third strike.