PHILADELPHIA – Forget for a moment that Jake Arrieta suffered the shortest start of his career Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park. Forget for a moment that the Phillies fell to 14-15 with 31 games to play following a 12-10 loss to the Braves.

The Phillies believe they should be a postseason team in an eight-team field, even if the front office does not add another piece or two before Monday’s 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline.

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If the season ended Sunday, the Phillies would make the postseason as the No. 7 seed.

“I really don’t think we need anything else,” Arrieta said. “I think we have the starting pitching to get it done. ... Our bullpen is a lot stronger than it was early in the season. Obviously our lineup is capable of doing an extreme amount of damage as we saw throughout this series and even tonight, regardless of the loss. Obviously we wanted to sweep these guys and put us in a nice position to win six in a row.”

The Phillies can hit, which should help them on the nights when the pitching fails. The Braves took a 10-0 lead in the second inning. It was just the 19th time in the Phillies’ 137-year history that they allowed 10 or more runs in an inning. It last happened on Aug. 16, 2018, when they allowed 10 in the fifth inning in the first game of a doubleheader against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park.

Arrieta allowed five runs and had runners on the corners with one out in the second inning by the time Phillies manager Joe Girardi removed him from the game. Arrieta just threw 46 pitches in 1 1/3 innings. Both were the lowest marks of his career as a starter.

“I just wasn’t able to locate anything going,” Arrieta said. “I just flat out didn’t throw the ball very well. It was a weird night. It’s pretty hard to give up seven or eight runs in an inning and I found a way to do that tonight. I look forward to forgetting that as soon as possible and moving on because if you beat yourself up too much it can carry over.”

It was a surprising turnaround from his crisp start last week in Washington, when he allowed three hits and one run in five innings. He threw only 54 pitches against the Nationals. He would have pitched longer in Washington, but a rain delay ended his night.

“As a starting pitcher you can’t necessarily win the game by yourself, but you can lose it,” Arrieta said. “I felt that pretty much was the story of the night.”

Right-hander David Hale followed Arrieta. He had not pitched since Aug. 11, 10 days before the Phillies acquired him from the Yankees for right-hander Addison Russ. He allowed three more runs in the second.

But the Phillies nearly became the third team in baseball history to overcome a 10-0 deficit after two innings. Only two teams in baseball history trailed by 10 or more runs in the first or second inning and won: the Phillies against the Pirates on June 8, 1989, and the Cincinnati Red Stockings over the Philadelphia A’s on Sept. 13, 1876, which was the first year of the National League.

Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer in the second inning. The Phillies scored six runs in the third to make it 10-7. Andrew McCutchen doubled to score a run, Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run home run, Gregorius tripled to score two runs and Phil Gosselin’s fielder’s choice scored another.

“When it got to 10-4 I thought, 'We’re going to hang around this game and we’re going to have a chance to win,'” Girardi said. “Our guys battled.”

Roman Quinn and McCutchen hit back-to-back homers in the eighth to cut the lead to 11-10.

The Phillies’ offense entered Sunday averaging 5.36 runs per game, which ranked third in baseball. Their .344 on-base percentage was second. Their .451 slugging percentage was fifth. Arrieta’s bad night notwithstanding, the Phillies’ rotation has been solid. They entered the night ninth in baseball with a 2.9 WAR, ninth with a 3.86 ERA and fifth with a 4.02 FIP, according to FanGraphs. If the Phillies make a trade on Monday, it likely will help the bullpen.

“I mean, if the team can get better, yeah, we can get even better,” Gregorius said. “But I trust in these guys. We have a really great team.”