By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
With the Philadelphia Phillies losing four straight games against non-contending, National League East teams, the club has fallen three games out of the National League East and two games out of the top National League Wild Card spot.
Phillies manager Gabe Kapler joined SportsRadio 94 WIP Thursday morning ahead of the club's series finale matinee opposite RHP Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals, and said, at this point, the Phillies "have to win every baseball game."
"We are looking to each game as if it's a playoff, or an opportunity to get in to the playoffs. We just can't lose ground," Kapler said. "It's not to say we're not going to lose more games. We're going to lose more games. It's the nature of this game. You're going to lose every once in awhile, and sometimes you're going to run into a stretch where it's three or four out of five or six, which is kind of what we're going through right now. We're not going through a good spell."
Since last Thursday, the Phillies pitching staff has posted a combined Major League Baseball-worst 7.01 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, despite tying the Los Angeles Dodgers for recording the most strikeouts, 66. The Phillies offense, on the other hand, has posted a tying-ninth-best .473 slugging percentage, with 11 home runs, 31 runs scored, 28 RBI and 10 stolen bases spanning 258 plate appearances over the same stretch.
"We always keep our minds on the fact that we have to put our best lineup out there every game," Kapler said. "Our job is to put the Phillies in the best position to win every single night, while also keeping a keen eye on the long-term health of our players."
Kapler mentioned that while Roman Quinn has shown promise in 22 games since returning from injury, he will continue to use Odubel Herrera in center, such as on Thursday given his career success opposite Scherzer. Quinn has slashed .327/.340/.490 with five extra-base hits and four stolen bases in 22 games since returning from injury. Herrera, meanwhile, is slashing just .198/.270/.272 over his previous 22 games, with three extra-base hits and no stolen bases.
"We're not looking to rest guys right now. We're looking to get into the postseason by putting our best team on the field every night," Kapler said. "This year, our team has demonstrated during times of struggle … we look for ways to support one another."
"We don't stop our process or our preparation, which has led us being in first place for a portion of this season and being a good position to strike almost the entire season."
