Luis Arraez suffers sprained left ankle as Phillies falter again with chance to clinch playoff spot

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Luis Arraez writhed in the dirt and grabbed his left ankle after he tried to avoid a tag and beat out a grounder.

The NL batting leader, Arraez stayed down for a while as Philadelphia Phillies trainers tended to him. He eventually hobbled off the field with assistance and could not put weight on the foot.

The All-Star second baseman could miss the final three games of the regular season with a sprained left ankle .

As for the Phillies?

They're hoping they don't miss the playoffs after wasting two opportunities to clinch an NL wild-card spot. They'll have to fend off the Arizona Diamondbacks over the final weekend of the season.

“Yeah, we're feeling pressure,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “We should be feeling some pressure. I know I feel some pressure. It's that time of year and you're trying to win games.”

The Phillies' bullpen blew up again in the late innings against Milwaukee and their offense remained in a late-season funk. The Brewers reached 100 wins for the first time with their 5-1 victory .

The Phillies needed a win to at least have a shot at clinching their fifth straight trip to the playoffs. They get a third straight chance to clinch when they host Tampa Bay on Friday night.

Philadelphia leads Arizona by two games with three to play. The Diamondbacks finish the season at San Diego and own the tiebreaker over the Phillies.

“We're in the driver's seat,” All-Star Bryce Harper said. “We've got to win and take care of our business. We can't really worry about any other teams or what they're doing. We've got to keep going. Tampa's a great team, as well. We've got to go out and play our baseball.”

Philadelphia sends Cristopher Sánchez (18-6, 2.93 ERA) to the mound Friday against the AL East champion Rays, needing its ace left-hander to calm the nerves inside the clubhouse — and silence the fans who booed the team off the field after its latest loss.

The Phillies will surely play this weekend without Arraez, a three-time batting champion whose .310 average leads the NL.

Arraez hit a grounder in the sixth inning to shortstop Cooper Pratt, and a wide throw pulled first baseman Jake Bauers off the bag.

Arraez dived to his right to avoid the tag and immediately grabbed his ankle. X-rays were negative for Arraez, who is hitting .278 with the Phillies since he was obtained from San Francisco at the trade deadline .

Bryson Stott moved from third base to second and Edmundo Sosa took over at third.

Arraez's acquisition forced a major defensive shuffle that sent Harper from first base to right field, Stott from second to third and Alec Bohm from third to first. The Phillies have largely stuck with that defensive alignment down the stretch, but Mattingly now has options.

Sosa could stay at third and keep Harper in right, or Harper could move back to first — he said after the loss he was open to that — and Bryan De La Cruz could finish the season in right.

If the Phillies avoid a collapse that would place them alongside the 1964 team in franchise infamy, Arraez will have four days to heal before their NL Wild Card Series starts Tuesday.

No matter the lineup, the Phillies need to get hot. They have lost 12 of 20 overall and went 1 for 16 with runners in scoring position in two losses to the Brewers. Catcher J.T. Realmuto has gone 0 for his last 29.

The strength for the Phillies remains their starting rotation.

Andrew Painter allowed one run and struck out eight, another terrific outing in a second-half rebound that should see him play a role in the postseason in the rotation or out of the bullpen. Philadelphia got more good pitching news earlier in the day when All-Star lefty Jesús Luzardo said he has recovered enough from left shoulder inflammation that he should be able to pitch in the playoffs.

The question suddenly in Philadelphia is this: Can the Phillies even get there?

“I think it's more frustration than pressure,” struggling shortstop Trea Turner said. “I think we know how good we can be. At times, we haven't played to that standard. It feels like one thing doesn't go your way and sometimes it's here we go again.”

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