ST. LOUIS – The Phillies are headed to Iowa to play in Major League Baseball’s Field of Dreams game on Thursday. Surely, they are happy to put Busch Stadium in their rearview mirror because it was a Field of Nightmares.

The Phils lost two of three to the St. Louis Cardinals. Both losses came in games started by co-aces Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler.

The Cardinals laid a 7-1 beating on Wheeler and the boys in the series finale Wednesday afternoon.

The Phillies went into the All-Star break 11 games over .500 and holding the second National League wild-card spot with a two-game cushion.

Since the break, they are 10-15 and in danger of slipping off the wild-card grid for the first time since June 3, depending on the results of the San Diego and Arizona games Wednesday.

The Phillies have lost six of the eight series they have played after the break.

The trip to St. Louis was a hot and humid nightmare. The Phils basically ran out of pitching as they rested much of their bullpen and eked out a 6-5 win Monday night.

On Tuesday night, they wasted six shutout innings from Sánchez, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and hit into four double plays on their way to a 2-0 loss.

In Wednesday’s finale, Wheeler was tagged for four two-out runs in the fifth inning as the Cardinals put an end to his day at 84 pitches. The right-hander gave up five hits in the inning, including a pair of ringing doubles. Wheeler relied heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 37 percent of the time. The pitch averaged 94.4 mph, down from its season average of 95.2 mph.

Wheeler has given up 13 earned runs in his last four starts as his ERA has climbed from 2.16 to 2.89. He has lost his last two starts and the Phillies are 1-4 in his last five.

If the Phils don’t win the games that Wheeler and Sánchez start, it’s going to be very difficult to make the postseason for a fifth straight season.

Inconsistent offense remains a huge issue for the Phils. They scored just one run in the final two games in St. Louis. That run came on back-to-back doubles by Bryce Harper and Luis Arraez against starter Kyle Leahy in the fourth inning Wednesday.

After Wheeler departed, lefty Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless sixth. José Alvarado gave up a hit, three walks and two runs in the seventh.

(More coming…)