PHILADELPHIA — There is symbolism, and then there is shortstop Bryson Stott pegging an innocent cameraman in the head with an errant throw two minutes into this crucial Phillies homestand. The Phillies do not act in subtle ways. Never. If they are to conquer the second-longest postseason drought in Major League Baseball, they must make it as difficult as possible.

It’s all this franchise knows.

By the eighth inning of Tuesday’s outrageous 18-11 loss to Toronto, the feeling was unmistakable. The Phillies were missing two-thirds of their starting outfield once Brandon Marsh jammed his left knee into the left-center-field wall. Their starting pitcher, Kyle Gibson, extinguished whatever energy a half-empty ballpark could generate. Reliever Sam Coonrod, who soon could be demoted to Triple A, numbed everyone with 34 pitches in a four-run eighth inning.

“Have you had enough?” one fan seated in Section 219 said to another.

“E-A-G-L-E-S!” people down the left-field line chanted as they departed.

“Let’s go, Blue Jays!” dozens of Toronto supporters chanted from behind the visitors dugout.

The whole thing felt irrelevant, and these Phillies were supposed to end those tedious days. The Phillies, right now, are a postseason team by default. The National League must send six teams to the tournament. The sixth-best team was always going to be a good — not great — team. But the Phillies have lost five straight games. They have lost 16 of their last 20 games against teams with winning records, since July 10. They are neither good nor great in their current form.

After the latest loss, Kyle Schwarber had a message for some of his teammates. “We have to stay in the fight,” he told them. “Show up tomorrow and go win a ballgame.” It is easier said than done.

And, still, the math is in their favor. The most significant win of the season was on a Thursday afternoon in June. That game took 4 hours, 1 minute. Zach Eflin started it. Didi Gregorius doubled and tripled. Odúbel Herrera homered. James Norwood recorded the final out. The Phillies beat the Brewers 8-3 to capture the season series. That is the tiebreaker under MLB’s new postseason rules.

“We still are in the driver’s seat,” Gibson said. “It depends on how we do. It doesn’t depend on how anybody else does. We have a pretty veteran team in here that has been in these situations. We still have a lot of confidence.”

So, if the Phillies go 7-8 in the season’s final 15 games, Milwaukee must go 10-4 because a tie is not good enough for the Brewers. The Phillies’ magic number is 12, and it would take an epic collapse to prevent the franchise from making its first postseason appearance since 2011.

But the Phillies like a good challenge, and other math is more daunting: The Phillies need to cover 135 innings in the next two weeks and the list of trusted pitchers is shrinking by the day. There are leaks everywhere.

Zack Wheeler will start Wednesday’s game. He last pitched on Aug. 20. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)

Zack Wheeler will return Wednesday, but he might be limited to two innings. Noah Syndergaard, who has been hit hard and has not faced a team with a winning record since joining the Phillies, will be expected to pitch at least three or four innings after Wheeler.

Gibson, who carries a 4.71 ERA, has allowed 19 runs in 17 2/3 innings this month. He was the first Phillies starter to surrender 12 hits in a game since Aaron Harang in 2015. The dark years.

“We didn’t miss many bats,” interim manager Rob Thomson said. “There weren’t many swings-and-misses.”

Gibson will make his next start because there isn’t anyone else. The Phillies have already swapped Syndergaard for Bailey Falter, one of the few pitchers who hasn’t wilted in September. Aaron Nola has been decent. José Alvarado has been one of the best relievers in baseball for months. Who else? Eflin, who was unavailable to pitch in the last two games because of back spasms, was solid again Tuesday as a middle reliever. He allowed one unearned run and recorded two strikeouts in the sixth inning. Eflin could see more important spots. But he cannot be used as a traditional reliever who pitches on back-to-back days because he’s never done it and there are health concerns with him.

Thomson said he did not remove Gibson (seven runs allowed in five innings) sooner because he did not want to burn through his bullpen. It was a conservative decision at a time when the Phillies are clawing for whatever positives they can find. Maybe it would not have mattered because many of their middle relievers are bleeding runs.

Gibson, actually, threw harder Tuesday than he has all season. He said he felt better during his warmup pitches than he has in a long time. Then, Toronto smoked him.

“I was just trying to get as many pitches out of him as we possibly could,” Thomson said.

Garrett Stubbs, pitching in relief, recorded the final two outs. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)

The game ended with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs on the mound. The Phillies were just trying to survive another day. Marsh, at least, was diagnosed with only a bruised knee. The math might favor the Phillies, but there is value in sealing a postseason bid sooner rather than later. Nola, as it stands, is scheduled to pitch the penultimate game of the season. If the Phillies need him that night in Houston, he would not be available to pitch on regular rest until Game 3 of the Wild Card Series. This whole thing works only if Wheeler and Nola are aligned for Games 1 and 2.

The Phillies keep insisting they are not worried. There is urgency, but not panic.

“I don’t think so,” Thomson said. “Not with this group. I really don’t. We have good character people in the clubhouse. They’re always upbeat. Even today when we were down, there was a lot of energy in the dugout. Everybody had each other’s back. They fought. I’m not too worried about that. I think we’re just going through a little bit of a dry spell. That’s all.”

Bryce Harper singled twice in the Phillies’ 11-run outburst that fell a touchdown short. He has seven extra-base hits in 21 games since returning from the broken thumb that cost him two months. He made a bad base-running mistake in the fifth inning when the game was still undecided.

He has seen some bad Septembers here. Why will this be different?

“It’s just the group of guys that we have,” Harper said. “You go through some lulls in the season. This isn’t the greatest spot to go in, right? But at the same time we know who we are. We know the type of team we are. We know we’re capable to go out there and play against good teams.”

That’s the problem: The Phillies haven’t proven it for weeks. They captured the season series against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Padres. The Mets thrashed them. They played the Braves tough earlier in the season, but Atlanta just swept them. The four games at Citizens Bank Park later this week will offer chances for redemption.

The request is modest: Look — don’t just talk — like a postseason team.

(Top photo of Kyle Gibson: Eric Hartline / USA Today)