Aaron Nola, Phillies struggle in sixth straight loss to begin road trip in Chicago: ‘It’s not where you want to be’
Nola issued four walks over 4⅓ innings and threw first-pitch strikes only 45% of the time against the Cubs. Justin Crawford drove in the Phillies' lone run of the game.
CHICAGO — The knockout blow came in the second inning.
Aaron Nola seemed on the verge of wriggling out of the jam he’d put himself in while only conceding one run to the Cubs. Chicago had loaded the bases with no outs in the second on two walks and a single, but Nola induced a double play to get back in the driver’s seat with the bottom of the order up.
However, another walk, followed by a fastball over the middle of the plate that nine-hole hitter Dansby Swanson hammered 424 feet for a three-run shot, suddenly put the Phillies in a 4-0 hole. And for their scuffling offense, it proved too deep to climb back out.
The Phillies fell, 5-1, to Chicago, starting off their road trip with a sixth straight loss.
“It’s not where you want to be,” said Bryce Harper. “It’s not where we thought we were going to be, starting the season.”
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An RBI double from Justin Crawford in the fourth inning accounted for the Phillies’ only run. They put the leadoff hitter aboard five times, but failed to cash in any of them.
The Phillies stranded the bases loaded in the second when backup catcher Rafael Marchán struck out swinging on a splitter in the dirt from Colin Rea. The Cubs right-hander used a seven-pitch mix to keep the Phillies off balance for 6⅔ innings, recording five strikeouts.
Nola started the game strong with a six-pitch first inning, but things fell apart in the second. He had inconsistent command, and issued four walks over 4⅓ innings. Nola often fell behind in the count, throwing first-pitch strikes only 45% of the time.
“Two-seam was running over the plate too much,” Nola said. “Curveball, when I did throw them pretty good, I felt like they laid off of them pretty well. But just getting behind way too much.”
Nola loaded the bases again in the third inning on a single, double, and a walk, and the Cubs tacked on another run with a sacrifice fly.
“It’s been really difficult,” Nola said of the Phillies’ current slide. “It’s baseball. Right now, it feels like when things go wrong, they really go wrong.”
The Cubs helped stifle any momentum with several strong defensive plays. Ian Happ dove into the stands to catch a foul pop-up from Kyle Schwarber in the first. The Phillies’ designated hitter was then robbed of an RBI in the seventh when Chicago second baseman Nico Hoerner dove to snag a ground ball that left Schwarber’s bat at 99.6 mph.
In the ninth, Matt Shaw made a diving catch in right field on a liner from Trea Turner. The Phillies hit eight balls harder than 95 mph for outs.
“I thought the defense was pretty spectacular on their point,” said Harper, who went 1-for-3 with a walk. “Thought we hit the ball hard. They just made some good plays. So thought we had really good at-bats all night, and I think they made six or seven diving plays tonight.”
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The Phillies had the opportunity to cut into Chicago’s lead in the eighth. With lefty Hoby Milner on the mound for the Cubs, Harper and Alec Bohm worked walks. Phillies manager Rob Thomson opted not to pinch-hit for Brandon Marsh or Bryson Stott with right-handers Felix Reyes or Edmundo Sosa, and the lefties flew out and popped out, respectively.
“There was a [Cubs] right-hander ready,” Thomson said. “And the way we saw it was that we felt pretty even with the lefty-on-lefty as opposed to righty-on-righty. So I’d stay with the guys that are already in the game and hot.”
He said Reyes, who homered off Chris Sale in his first major league at-bat on Saturday, likely would have hit for Crawford if his spot came up in the eighth. But Stott’s pop-out ended the inning, stranding two runners.
In total, the Phillies left 10 men on base. The team’s run differential, already worst in the majors entering Monday’s game, plummeted to -42.
As the skid continues, does Thomson think something needs to be said to the team?
“I’ve been saying a lot,” Thomson said. “But I keep that in the clubhouse.”
In Trea Turner and Justin Crawford, the Phillies have two of baseball's fastest players at the top and bottom of their batting order. It's a baserunning coach's dream. Paco Figueroa sat down with "Phillies Extra" to discuss his philosophy on baserunning and how the Phillies might be able to leverage the elite speed of Turner and Crawford to boost an offense that has struggled to score runs early in the season. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs | Kyle Schwarber | Brad Keller | J.T.Realmuto | Orion Kerkering