CHICAGO -- Back in late August, the Phillies made the decision to place Zack Wheeler on the 15-day injured list with right forearm tendinitis, a move that the 32-year-old thought was best. Wheeler’s main goal was to finish the season strong while having his best stuff.

After returning from the IL on Sept. 21 against the Blue Jays and delivering four scoreless innings, Wheeler continued to showcase his best stuff in the Phillies’ 2-1 loss against the Cubs on Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field.

“He’s our guy,” Bryce Harper said. “Every time he goes out there, we have a chance to win just like tonight. It’s [unfortunate] when we can’t capitalize for him, because he’s been like that ever since he’s been a Phillie. We have to be better.”

With the Phillies and Brewers both losing on Tuesday, Philadelphia still holds a 1 1/2-game lead for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Phillies also own the tiebreaker over Milwaukee after winning the season series.

“Flush it tonight and [we] got to get going,” Harper said. “We can keep saying that, right? We got to actually do it. So as a team, as a club, we got to be better. We all know that in here and hopefully tomorrow night, we can go out there and be a lot better out there.”

Despite the loss on Tuesday, Wheeler’s outing is a positive sign for the Phillies. He gave up one run on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts across six innings and appears to be fresh after the month-long absence.

Since his return from the IL, Wheeler has allowed just one run in 10 innings.

“I’m ecstatic,” interim manager Rob Thomson said of where Wheeler is physically. “I think that time off maybe did him some good and hopefully will do us all some good as we get down the road here.”

The plan heading into Tuesday’s game was originally for Wheeler to throw “15-20” more pitches than his previous outing. The right-hander threw 58 pitches in his last start, but he exited against the Cubs after having thrown just 62 pitches.

“Even though he still has some pitches left, I was comfortable getting him out of there,” Thomson said.

Wheeler added: “I think we wanted to get a little further tonight. But the innings and all that was not my call. I think it was right.”

Wheeler is happy to be back with his team and contributing. He has been an anchor for the Phils’ rotation this season with a 2.92 ERA and 156 strikeouts. With nine games remaining, the right-hander will likely make one more start in the regular season and hopefully more in the postseason. 

“It’s always nice to be out there on the mound competing and pitching well at the same time,” Wheeler said. “Any chance I can get to help the team, I’m going to do it. Just trying to keep the team in it and put us in a place to win.”

The team is hoping to forget about Tuesday’s loss and look ahead to Wednesday. The offense couldn’t capitalize on Wheeler’s start, and the Phillies are hoping for their stars to step up during the playoff push. 

“Harper got a big hit tonight and then he got the big hit in the ninth off [Brandon Hughes],” Thomson said. “Rhys [Hoskins] has been heating up, [Kyle] Schwarber had a couple of home runs the other day. So, they’re starting to get it going.”

Harper’s RBI double in the sixth inning was the club’s lone run of the game, and he believes that all of the Phillies need to play better down the stretch, including himself.

Harper entered Tuesday with just five hits over his last 36 at-bats. But his RBI and two hits at the plate Tuesday are hopefully signs of breaking out of that slump.

“I just got to keep going,” Harper said. “Every day I got to be consistent doing that, making connection and getting hits. I just got to keep going. You know, this team needs me and I need to play the best ball I can for the next nine games and plus.”

The Phillies still control their own destiny to secure their first postseason appearance since 2011 and the group likes its chances to break that drought.

“We’re confident, we still are,” Wheeler said. “We should have won tonight, but it is what it is. Come back tomorrow and win tomorrow’s game and finish out the series strong.”