Final Score: Cubs 4, Phillies 2
Aaron Nola has spent his entire career hearing about his September woes. For all of September 2022 (save for one bad inning in Atlanta), Nola had been reversing that narrative. He was continuing to reverse it in Chicago on Wednesday.
Then, the fifth inning.
Much like the Phillies’ postseason standing has spiraled on a dime the last five Septembers — including this one — Nola’s night spiraled against the Cubs. Because of it, and because of another quiet night by the bats against Chicago, the Phillies fell to 83-71.
More importantly, their Wild Card lead fell to one game, and if the Brewers hold on in Milwaukee, it will fall to one half.
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The Phillies took an early lead in the third, when a Kyle Schwarber hit by pitch and a Rhys Hoskins single put them in business with one out. With no one covering, the former Cub Schwarber alertly stole third, allowing Bryce Harper’s subsequent fly ball to left to score the first run of the ballgame.
Nola followed it up by striking out the side in the third, cruising through the first four innings on a night when it once felt like maybe just a couple runs would do the job.
Not even close.
The Cubs led off the fifth inning with two straight singles before a Yan Gomes grounder tied it. Had Bryson Stott gotten the ball out quicker, it may have been a double play, but it would up as a fielder’s choice instead.
That turned out to matter — a lot.
Nola hit Alfonso Rivas with a pitch, putting runners on first and second before Christopher Morel — the same Christopher Morel who homered Tuesday and tortured the Phillies back in July — brought them, and himself, home.
It was a painful blip in an otherwise dominant outing for Nola — but sometimes, one blip is one too many.
Nick Castellanos’ second hit, and a wild pitch thereafter, gave the Phillies a chance to inch closer in the sixth. But Brandon Marsh struck out before an ice cold Jean Segura (foul pop) and Stott (strikeout) ended the frame empty-handed.
Harper drove in a run with a groundout in the seventh, shrinking the deficit to two and moving Hoskins over to second with one away. But nothing more came of the inning — nor of the eighth, when Castellanos’ third hit and Segura’s single put two on with one out before Matt Vierling and Schwarber struck out.
They’re 0-5 against the Cubs this season. The Cubs are 69-86.
The Phillies have lost nine of 12, and the margin of error is gone.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Hayden Wesneski: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 85 pitches (58 strikes)
Wesnecki was working around trouble all night, allowing at least two baserunners in the second through fourth innings, then putting the leadoff man on in the next two before he was pulled. Give him credit for not letting the traffic get to him. His ERA is 2.33.
Aaron Nola: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR, 95 pitches (65 strikes)
Baseball is a cruel game. Of Nola’s six innings, four were perfect, and one saw a baserunner who never reached second. Yet the one inning sunk him, and then some. He allowed four runs, raising his ERA to 3.36.
The Phillies have scored 10 runs across five games against the Cubs this season.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Thursday, Sept. 29 vs. Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field
- 2:20 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB Network (out-of-market)
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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