PHILADELPHIA -- It had all the makings of a postseason showdown.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. Chris Sale. First place vs. second place. Phillies vs. Braves.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, the opener of a pivotal four-game set played out much like a postseason game from recent seasons.
The Braves did just enough against Sánchez, they made the plays they needed to and their bullpen shut the door. The Phillies, meanwhile, came up short in each of those areas in Friday night's 5-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park.
Returning home from a long West Coast swing looking to further close the gap atop the National League East, the Phillies instead dropped to five games back with 21 to play. Six of those 21 games will come against the Braves -- including three more in this series -- though the Phils now have to win all six in order to secure the tiebreaker.
The Phillies had their chances in the series opener, but simply came up short.
It started in the second inning, when the Braves put two on with one out against Sánchez. Austin Riley then lined a ball through the right side toward a hard-charging Bryce Harper in right field.
Lane Thomas, despite initially freezing at second base, was waved furiously toward the plate. As Harper came up ready to throw, however, the ball was not in his glove. It had skipped past him, allowing Thomas to score easily and Mauricio Dubón to go first to third.
Now, it's anyone's guess as to how that potential play at the plate would have gone -- or how the rest of the inning may have played out. What did happen, though, is the Braves ultimately scored three runs before Sánchez could put an end to the rally.
Philadelphia never fully recovered.
Alec Bohm had an RBI double and a solo homer off Sale -- but he did not get much help.
The Phillies went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded five runners. Their best chance came in the fifth, when they had runners on second and third following Trea Turner's two-out double.
Harper, whose 35-game on-base streak came to an end, popped out to end the threat. One inning later, Luis Arraez ripped a leadoff double to put the potential tying run in scoring position, only to never advance beyond second base.