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Struggling Phillies ace Aaron Nola hopes to stay ahead of the curve Thursday night vs. Marlins

Aaron Nola is hopeful to have a better start against the Marlins.

Starter Aaron Nola is on the mound in the first inning as the Phillies face the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park April 15, 2019.
Starter Aaron Nola is on the mound in the first inning as the Phillies face the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park April 15, 2019.Read moreTOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer

NEW YORK -- It would be premature to characterize it as Aaron Nola’s “eureka” moment. But if the Phillies ace should happen to string together a bunch of solid starts, remember the sixth inning last Saturday night in Colorado.

Until then, Nola's start against the Rockies had gone pretty much like all his other starts this season. He gave up a homer to Charlie Blackmon on his first pitch of the game and an inside-the-park homer on his first pitch of the second inning. His fastball command was a bit better, but his signature curveball, which often begins as a ball but winds up as a strike, was still nowhere to be found.

Nola settled down in the fourth and fifth innings. If he discovered anything, though, it was in the sixth inning, when he struck out Drew Butera with a curveball and got pinch-hitting Pat Valaika to swing through three breaking pitches.

"This year, it really hasn't been where it usually is, in my opinion," Nola said of the horizontal movement on his curveball. "It's been getting hit. Later on in that game, I had command of it. I was getting some swing and misses. That's what it usually is. I'm used to throwing it for strikes in and out of the zone. It's been kind of a struggle to get back on that, but I think it's going to come."

Nola will take a 6.84 ERA into Thursday night's series opener against the last-place Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. He hasn't completed the seventh inning in any of his five starts after doing so in 15 of 33 starts last season.

The road back to dominance begins with the return of his curveball.

"It's a lot easier when things are going good. When it's going bad, it can really bring you down,” Nola said. “It's my job to not hang my head, and I'm not hanging my head. You can look at stats or whatever, and yeah, they're not great. But if we're talking about pitching for my teammates, it's going out there and trying to go deep into ballgames. I want to get back on that track.

"The last one wasn't really the start I wanted again. But it was better towards the end. It's definitely encouraging."

Quinn injured again

Center fielder Roman Quinn left the game in the eighth inning with a right groin strain. He will be evaluated further on Thursday.

Quinn recently returned from the injured list after suffering a strained oblique muscle in his side during spring training. The groin strain is the latest in a long line of injuries suffered by the young outfielder during his short career.

“I ran out there and I just couldn’t believe it,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He worked so hard to get back. I really feel for Roman. It’s nothing that he’s doing. It’s just, his body’s not responding. We keep thinking about different ways that we can try to keep him healthy and on the field. All he wants to do is get going and stay going. It’s tough. I really want the best for Roman.”

Rodriguez called up

The Phillies made several roster moves, most notably calling up versatile infielder Sean Rodriguez from triple-A Lehigh Valley.

A .226 hitter over 11 major-league seasons, Rodriguez started at shortstop in place of Phil Gosselin, who was hitless in 12 at-bats as the fill-in for injured Jean Segura and Scott Kingery. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for Rodriguez, the Phillies designated lefty reliever James Pazos for assignment.

The Phillies also recalled right-hander Enyel De Los Santos from triple-A and optioned Drew Anderson, who threw 84 pitches Tuesday night in relief of starter Zach Eflin. Infielder Mitch Walding was also optioned to triple-A.

Extra bases

Kapler said he doesn’t believe that he or Bryce Harper will be suspended for their actions in Monday night’s argument with home-plate umpire Mark Carlson. ... Reliever David Robertson (strained flexor tendon) will be reexamined by team doctors this week and is hopeful of being cleared to resume throwing. ... Nick Pivetta allowed four runs on five hits and three walks and recorded nine strikeouts in six innings Tuesday night in his first start since being optioned to triple A. ... Nola will be opposed on Thursday night by Marlins lefty Caleb Smith.