Phillies, Aaron Nola fall to the Diamondbacks, as experimenting with the bullpen continues

With Zack Wheeler out and the tendency for starters to not pitch as deep in the postseason, it'll be interesting to see how the Phillies handle the fifth and sixth innings.

by Scott Lauber

Published Sept. 20, 2025, 11:00 p.m. ET

PHOENIX — Let’s play recent Phillies playoff trivia. Ready? OK, here goes:

Since October turned red again in 2022, how many Phillies pitchers other than Zack Wheeler have completed six innings in a postseason start?

Aaron Nola, raise your hand.

That’s it.

It’s worth wondering, then, how the Phillies will handle the middle innings in this postseason. And not because Nola didn’t make it through the sixth here Saturday night in a 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks, only the Phillies’ sixth setback in the last 22 games.

Across baseball, managers don’t tend to let starters go as deep into games in the playoffs. The Phillies also won’t have Wheeler, awaiting surgery Monday to treat a nerve condition. And as the No. 4 starter, Nola probably won’t make a start until the National League Championship Series, if the Phillies get that far.

So, the last week of the regular season will be a chance for manager Rob Thomson to figure out how best to squeeze 10, 11, 12 or even more outs from the bullpen when he doesn’t get at least 18 from Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Jesús Luzardo, and Nola.

It’s going to be interesting.

“To be able to go in, in dirty innings [with runners on base], and get out of it,” Thomson said, “it’s really critical.”

As usual, Thomson’s first move will depend on matchups. Often, especially with runners on base, he has liked lefty Tanner Banks, who has earned his trust by stranding 19 of 30 batters, including three in the series opener Friday night.

“I think he’s really got a lot of confidence right now, and he’s throwing strikes,” Thomson said. “The cutter has really been a real good pitch for him, and then, he goes to that bigger slider. He’s getting righties out, he’s getting out left. But I think the biggest thing is he’s got a lot of confidence.”

Banks was the choice again, with the game tied 3-3, one out, and two runners on base against Nola. He won an eight-pitch duel with Tim Tawa, striking him out on a changeup, but threw a slider on the hands that went for a go-ahead bloop single for Idelmaro Vargas.

“What can you do?” Thomson said.

Exactly.

It was another disappointing finish to a start for Nola. He has a 6.46 ERA and only one more regular-season start, leaving little time to convince Thomson and pitching coach Caleb Cotham to give him a start in the best-of-five division series.

With a day off between Game 1 and 2, and another day for travel between Game 2 and 3, the Phillies will need only three starters in the divisional round. After Sánchez in the opener, they could go with Suárez and Luzardo, both of whom have outpitched Nola throughout the season.

“I feel good,” said Nola, who missed three months with a sprained ankle and fractured rib. “I’m 100% finally. Ankle and rib feel great; arm feels good. Just have to keep working hard and try to go have a good game in my last outing.”

It took six pitches for the Phillies to grab the lead against South Jersey’s Zac Gallen. Harrison Bader led off with a four-pitch walk and scored on an RBI double from Kyle Schwarber, who scored two batters later on cleanup-hitting J.T. Realmuto’s sacrifice fly.

After the Diamondbacks tied the game, Alec Bohm restored the Phillies’ lead, making it 3-2 in the fourth inning by taking Gallen deep for a two-run homer, his first since Aug. 17. In two games back from the injured list, Bohm is 4-for-9 with a double, a homer, and four RBIs.

In getting to Nola early in the game, the Diamondbacks seized upon a recent trend.

The leadoff batter has reached base in 15 of 35 innings in Nola’s last six starts. And 20 of the 22 earned runs given up by Nola in those starts came when the leadoff batter reached base.

So, the Diamondbacks were set up in the first and third innings with leadoff doubles by Geraldo Perdomo and Jake McCarthy, respectively. In both cases, they scored on one-out singles — from Corbin Carroll in the first inning and Ketel Marte in the third.

“It’s important against every team,” Nola said of keeping the leadoff man off base, “but a team like this that’s scrappy and fast, they like to put the ball in play a lot, it’s even more important. Those innings, I’ve got to navigate them a little bit better, and it’s a little harder when the leadoff guy gets on.”

And it makes it less likely that Nola will stay in a game long enough to get through six innings, especially in the playoffs when the hook gets quicker for every starting pitcher and the outcome rests in the hands of the bullpen.