PHILADELPHIA -- Well, the Phillies have two more shots to make their case.

They opened the three-game set against the Braves with a 9-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park on Friday, a disappointing beginning to an important series that could theoretically sway the front office to be a little more aggressive before Wednesday’s Trade Deadline -- even if they have no intention of trading a top prospect or two for a stud starting pitcher. The loss dropped the Phillies to 54-49, 6 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East and one game out of the second NL Wild Card.

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“I think it would help if we won the series, shrink the deficit and stay close in the Wild Card or get ourselves in one of the Wild Card spots after the series,” Phillies right-hander Jake Arrieta said. “But we have to keep it close to make a decision to continue to make moves. And it’s up to us.”

The Phillies expected to be better Friday. After a loss to the Braves on July 4, they went 9-6. They had won five of their previous six games, carrying a little momentum into the series. But the Braves are a good team, better than the Mets, Pirates and Tigers -- teams the Phillies went 6-2 against in that stretch (they went 3-4 against the Nationals and Dodgers).

Atlanta scored five runs in five innings against Arrieta, who is pitching with a bone spur in his elbow. Four of those runs came in the fifth, starting with a solo homer to right field from Braves catcher Brian McCann.

“I don’t want to stop,” Arrieta said. “The movement, the action, the velocity in the first four was about as good as it’s been all year. And then it flips. It’s frustrating because that’s what I’ve been dealing with for the majority of the season. It’s not a good feeling.”

The Phillies scored one run on three hits and one walk in the fifth to cut Atlanta’s lead to four. The Phillies had 12 hits, but only two for extra bases. The Phillies’ lack of power has been a season-long issue, and they rank 12th in the National League with a .417 slugging percentage.

“We just weren't able to get the big hit,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. “That was the difference in the game.”

But the Phillies still trailed by only four runs entering the sixth. Kapler summoned left-hander Cole Irvin from the bullpen. He entered the game with a 7.24 ERA in seven appearances, allowing at least a run in each of his first six appearances before throwing two scoreless innings in his last outing on July 19 in Pittsburgh. Irvin allowed four runs in the inning, walking three consecutive batters at one point to force home two runs.

The Braves led by eight runs after the inning.

Why not go to somebody else in the sixth? In left-hander Ranger Suárez's two most recent appearances he threw a total of 46 pitches, tossing just 17 in the last four days (July 24 in Detroit).

“Ranger needed one more day,” Kapler said. “But, even so, we have a ton of confidence in Cole. He's coming off a great outing. He was the guy who was there to give us length, get us through a couple of innings. It was the right part of the lineup to get a couple of innings out of him. It just didn't work out in our favor.

“He changed his arm angle. We were all really excited about it. Saw an opportunity to use him and get us an inning or two. He wasn't able to execute.”

Kapler then had Irvin hit for himself with runners on first and second and one out in the sixth. He flied out to left.

“If the bases were loaded with nobody out, we would have used Sean Rodríguez there,” Kapler said. “It just didn't seem like a big enough run opportunity to then go through bullpen pieces that we know we're going to be depending on in the next couple of days. It's that simple.”

The Phillies decided to save their bullets for Saturday and Sunday. They hope they get to use them and hopefully convince the front office they are worth taking a chance on.

“I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind in here that we have guys right now in this clubhouse that are capable of winning ballgames consistently and climbing the ranks and separating ourselves and moving past on some teams,” Arrieta said. “We just have to win games. It’s easy to look outside of the clubhouse for solutions. I think we have more than enough talent to make it happen with the guys we have.”