Aaron Nola looked great from the latter half of the third inning through the end of the sixth. It was his deepest outing, by one out, of the season so far. The ninth inning was fun for a bit.
Other than that, look away.
Not much — no, nothing — else went the Phillies’ way on Monday. Things didn’t start well for Nola, and his line didn’t end well because the bullpen’s night didn’t start well. A rally fell short in particularly ugly fashion. They lost, 5-4.
Nola allowed homers to lead off each of the first two innings. He settled in, beginning in a third-inning at bat that saw Juan Soto mere inches from giving Nola his seventh homer surrendered of the year. But he put two on with one out in the seventh to end his outing at 101 pitches, and a bullpen that has struggled mightily this year, missing José Alvarado and Orion Kerkering due to usage over the weekend, once again sputtered. José Ruiz gave Francisco Lindor his second homer of the day, a three-run shot with two outs.
Meanwhile, the Phillies’ offense was lifeless for eight innings in the biggest game of the year to date. The Phillies mustered three hits before the ninth inning on Monday.
They beat that total in the final frame alone, putting the tying run on deck with three straight hits and a one-out three-run homer from Bryson Stott, drawing within one.
That’s where the offense from the first eight innings showed back up: Trea Turner chased an Edwin DÃaz slider way low and swung through a fastball down the middle for out No. 2, and Bryce Harper one-upped him with one of the Phillies’ worst at bats of the young season, seeing one pitch either in or remotely near the strike zone and striking out on three pitches anyway.
The moral victory was getting DÃaz into the game. The tangible defeat was in the box score, and in the standings, as the Phillies fell to 13-10 and three games back of these Mets in the National League East.
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