Phillies lose third straight, 7-5, to Brewers behind ‘pretty bad’ start by Aaron Nola

MILWAUKEE — Aaron Nola has been an every-fifth-game constant for the Phillies since early in 2017, which explains how he whiffed the first batter he faced Saturday and took over fifth place on the franchise’s all-time strikeout list.

Move over, Curt Schilling. Next up, 26 Ks away: Chris Short.

But Nola also was making the first start of the final September of his Phillies contract. And although he’s only 30 and got Cy Young votes in three of the last five seasons, it’s hardly a guarantee that they will re-sign him. Or that they should.

Such is Nola’s complicated, albeit incomplete, Phillies legacy.

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That’s for another day. For now, the relevant details: After back-to-back starts that portended a strong finish to his poor walk year, Nola reverted to the same, old problems with runners on base in a 7-5 loss to the Brewers. He gave up seven runs on eight hits and three walks and didn’t survive the fifth inning.

“Pretty bad tonight,” he said in one breath. “Overall, just stunk,” he added in another.

Squint and you might see how it could’ve gone differently. Maybe Brice Turang’s one-out fly ball in the second inning wouldn’t have fallen between Brandon Marsh and a more agile left fielder than Kyle Schwarber. Instead, it dropped in left-center for an RBI single and kickstarted a three-run Brewers rally.

But Nola also wasn’t sharp. Not like he was last Sunday at home against the Cardinals. Certainly not like the Phillies need him to be in Game 2 of a wild-card series next month.

Speaking of which, the Phillies’ lead for the top wild card — and the best-of-three series at home that accompanies it — remains 2½ games over the Cubs. But they have lost three in a row, and a few cracks are beginning to form.

For one, although the Phillies continue to flex their homer muscles (Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, and Trea Turner went deep, with Turner tying a franchise record with a homer in five straight games), the offense often looks one-dimensional. Seven of 10 runs in the last two games against the Brewers — and nearly 42% of the 660 runs overall — came via homers.

And for another, the bullpen looks vulnerable, with José Alvarado and Seranthony Domínguez struggling to find their mojo after stints on the injured list, and Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto fighting the effects of a heavy workload.

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But none of it will matter much if Nola doesn’t figure out how to keep innings from spiraling when runners get on base.

With the bases empty, Nola often dominates. He began the game by getting four swings and misses on nine pitches. He struck out the first two batters and had Carlos Santana in a two-strike count. Santana worked a 10-pitch walk, and Nola expended 23 pitches in a first inning that manager Rob Thomson suspected “took something out of him.”

Maybe it did. But 10 of the last 19 Brewers batters against Nola reached base, and Nola got only six more swings and misses on his final 88 pitches.

“Same stuff,” Nola said. “Too many free passes again and a bunch of doubles. A couple of big innings blew up. I feel like I was missing a little bit on the strike zone. They were battling me when I was in the strike zone, too, especially with two strikes. Just a bad one tonight.”

In much of his previous two starts, Nola kept the ball down in the strike zone. He gave up two solo homers in seven innings Aug. 21 against the Giants, then allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals.

Nola didn’t have his best command against the Brewers. Two batters after Turang’s fly ball fell, he gave up a scorched two-out RBI double on a curveball to Tyrone Taylor and an RBI single to Christian Yelich.

The backbreaker came in the fifth. William Contreras hit a first-pitch changeup for a double before Nola hung a curveball to Santana — “Terrible pitch,” Nola said — for a two-run homer. He issued a two-out walk to Willy Adames and gave up a hard-hit double to Mark Canha, the knockout blow in his shortest start since July 29 in Pittsburgh.

“He couldn’t stop the momentum tonight with runners on base,” Thomson said.

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It’s a recurring theme, and it left Nola’s ERA at 4.55 in 28 starts. He likely will have four more starts in the regular season. Another rung on the strikeout ladder is in his sights.

But the real legacy-maker, the one that matters most and might determine his future with the Phillies, will happen only if he can pitch the team to another long postseason run.

“Stay healthy, try to finish strong,” Nola said. “I mean, stick with my routine and go out and compete. Hopefully put the guys in a better chance to win. That’s all I can do.”

Schwarber led off with a homer for the second game in a row and the ninth time overall this season. But at least two balls fell in front of him in left field, amplifying the importance of having Bryce Harper at first base on a nearly daily basis and Schwarber as the DH.

“I don’t think that’s any secret,” Thomson said.

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Unlike Friday night, when Turner blasted a go-ahead three-run homer against Brewers closer Devin Williams, he struck out to end the game with the tying run on second base.

But with a sixth-inning solo homer, Turner tied a club record by becoming the eighth Phillies player to go deep in five consecutive games. The mark is shared by Odúbel Herrera (2018), Rhys Hoskins (2017), Chase Utley (2008, twice), Bobby Abreu (2005), Mike Schmidt (1979), and Dick Allen (1969).