Philadelphia Phillies' Playoff Hopes are Going Up in Flames

It's becoming more apparent that the Don Mattingly honeymoon phase is long over for the Philadelphia Phillies.

After a stretch in which the Phillies went 37-17 when Mattingly first took over as manager following Rob Thomson's dismissal, things have started to unravel.

Actually, we might be past that point.

Since the All-Star break, Philadelphia has gone just 10-15, most recently falling to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.

The loss dropped the Phillies out of a Wild Card spot in the National League, and there doesn't appear to be any clear end to their woes.

Overall, Philadelphia has posted a 27-41 record since that 37-17 run, and it owns a minus-7 run differential on the season.

The Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks are all ahead of the Phillies in the NL Wild Card race. The Miami Marlins — who have now won four straight in spite of a slew of injuries — are now just one game behind Philly in the loss column.

Things aren't exactly looking great for Philadelphia, which attempted to bolster its roster at the MLB trade deadline by acquiring second baseman Luis Arraez and right-hander relief pitcher Caleb Kilian from the San Francisco Giants and lefty reliever Brooks Raley in a deal with the New York Mets.

Arraez has been spectacular since arriving in Philly, but Kilian is now out for an extended period of time due to an oblique injury. Raley can only help so much.

The Phillies have gotten some encouraging starts from Andrew Painter, but the bullpen remains a major issue, as does the lineup.

Philadelphia has scored just one run over its last two games, which came on the heels of a short stretch in which the bats appeared to be coming alive.

Clearly, that didn't last very long.

The Phillies have had major flaws all season, and they've largely been getting by with smoke and mirrors. Their run differential has been in the negatives most of the way, and most fans understood the roster simply hasn't been up to snuff.

There is still plenty of time left in the regular season, but just how much juice does this Philadelphia ballclub have remaining in the tank?

The Padres are red hot. The Marlins have somehow rediscovered their footing after a 12-game losing streak. The Phillies? They're neither here nor there.

On the bright side, Kyle Schwarber has been hitting much better over the last week, but he has still homered just twice since July 19 — and both of those dingers came in one game on Aug. 9.

We'll see if Philadelphia can recover, but there is no doubt this has been the squad's most trying campaign in quite some time ... and it's hard to ignore the fact that the Phillies' playoff hopes may be fading.