Phillies, Aaron Nola can’t overcome Ronald Acuña’ Jr.’s big night at the plate — and in right field

ATLANTA — One could make the argument that Ronald Acuña Jr. single-handedly delivered a 4-3 loss to the Phillies on Saturday night. He gave the Braves a 2-0 lead with a first-pitch home run off Aaron Nola in the bottom of the third, and then tacked on two more runs with a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth. But the wreckage didn’t end there.

In the top of the fifth inning, with one out and Bryson Stott on third base, Acuña fielded a fly ball right field off the bat of Matt Vierling and fired a laser home on the fly that clocked in at 105 mph. Stott narrowly avoided the tag.

A few at-bats later, Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The reigning NL MVP hit a line drive to right field, which seemed like it would score at least a run or two, but, instead, Acuña made a diving grab to end the inning. Harper said he regretted not doing more damage on Braves starter Jake Odorizzi’s first pitch, a 91 mph fastball that came down the middle of the plate.

“I think if I don’t miss that first pitch, the game is different,” Harper said of the at-bat. “I didn’t take a good swing at the first pitch. I rolled it and hit it foul. So Acuña, of course, made a great play right there. But I did miss the pitch I should have hammered.”

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So yes, that argument certainly could be made. But the Phillies did show some fight, even if it took them a while to do so. Their offense recorded only two hits and the one run against Odorizzi, who entered the game with a 4.15 ERA. Against the Braves bullpen, the offense showed signs of life. In the top of the seventh inning, Vierling added his second RBI, again plating Stott, with an RBI double to left field off Collin McHugh. And in the top of the eighth, Stott hit an RBI single to center to score Harper. The Braves’ lead, which was 4-0, had been whittled to 4-3. Braves closer Kenley Jansen shut the door with a perfect ninth inning to secure the win.

The Phillies have shown the ability to bounce back after soul-crushing losses and were hoping to do the same on Saturday night. But, despite their efforts, they ultimately were unable to do so. They’ll try to avoid the sweep on Sunday against Spencer Strider — which will not be an easy task.

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Some might chalk up Nola’s outing as another chapter in his book of September woes after glancing at his line. To be fair, it wasn’t pretty. The starter allowed four earned runs through seven innings with two walks and eight strikeouts and Acuña’s homer. The runs were all courtesy of Acuña, and they weren’t necessarily scored off bad pitches.

The home run came off a four-seam fastball that just nabbed the edge of the strike zone. The double came off of a knuckle curve that, again, just fell inside the strike zone.

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Nola didn’t set himself up for success by allowing a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies in the bottom of the third, who came around to score on the homer. But, all in all, it wasn’t a bad outing. And the right-hander got better as the game went on. He didn’t allow a hit or a walk from the fifth inning through the seventh inning. He said the difference for him, in those later innings, was getting the leadoff guy out.

“Getting ahead in the counts,” Nola said. “I was kind of getting behind in the third and fourth inning, but [getting ahead] was really a difference-maker.

“I just wanted to keep it at 4. Give the guys a chance. Obviously, giving up 4 is tough. They’ve got a good staff; they’ve got a good bullpen. It’s a grind. But that was my mindset. Just keep it there.”

All of the Phillies’ runs on Saturday were knocked in by their younger players: Vierling, who is 26 and is in his second big league season, and Stott, a 24-year-old rookie. Vierling finished his night 1-for-3 with two RBIs and Stott went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Stott also took some good at-bats, including a 10-pitch battle in the third.

Harper’s timing has looked off since his return from the injured list on Aug. 26, but he hit three balls hard, which he saw as an encouraging sign. Nevertheless, the DH would like to see some more hits start to fall.

“I keep missing pitches. I keep swinging at balls out of the zone,” Harper said. “I think you guys have seen that. I need to be better. I need to get better. I know it was a stepping stone tonight, but, at the same time, you know, like exit velocity isn’t exit hits, right? I want to be able to get some hits. Not just great swing, you’re out.”