Andrew Knapp scored when the ball knocked off Robinson Chirinos' mitt in the ninth inning to bolster Philadelphia's tenuous playoff push with a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
The Phillies bullpen blew the lead in the eighth and ninth innings. 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.
The Phillies have 32 blown saves this season.
J.T. Realmuto, the All-Star game catcher playing first because of a sore right shoulder, 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 remained 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.
Jose 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 and scored when Didi Gregorious hit into a double play. Freddy Galvis added a two-run homer, his 13th, later in the inning for a 3-0 lead.
Suarez gave two back in the fifth when New Jersey native Frank Schwindel - who had a hefty cheering section behind the Cubs dugout - hit a two-run homer that made it 3-2.
Suarez even helped himself when he doubled off Mills in the fifth and scored on Realmuto's single for a 4-2 lead in the fifth.
The Phillies had lost six of seven and eight of 11 overall as part of a late-summer swoon that knocked them out of a short run in first place in the NL East.
The Phillies are expected to throw a bullpen game in the series finale against Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (14-6, 4.54 ERA).
