Nick Castellanos and the Phillies power past the Marlins, 8-4

For most of this season, Aaron Nola has struggled to find the right pace. He has a 15-second clock dwindling behind him, like all pitchers do, but he is a slow worker and has had trouble adjusting to it.

He seems rushed at times. This is especially true when he’s pitching with runners in scoring position, and his splits reflect that. Entering his start on Saturday, batters were hitting .211 against him with the bases empty. Meanwhile, opponents were batting .284 with men on and .288 with runners in scoring position.

It’s a troublesome trend, and Nola and the Phillies have been working hard to address it. If anything, Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Marlins showed just how quickly things can spiral. Nola needed 60 pitches to get through his first four innings and allowed just two hits while striking out five.

For those first four innings, Nola didn’t pitch like he was confined by a clock. He was quick and efficient. He got on top of the ball and drove it down. He stayed right at the knees or just above them. That is where he’s at his best.

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Then came the fifth. He started leaving pitches up in the zone. The Marlins quickly capitalized on his mistakes. Garrett Hampson hit a solo home run to left field. Xavier Edwards doubled to right field, and Jacob Stallings — who is batting .199 with a .303 slugging percentage — drove Edwards home with an RBI double.

It was an abrupt shift. For the first four innings, Nola pitched well with a runner on second. After Jake Burger hit a two-out double in the first, Nola struck out Jazz Chisholm to end the inning. After Bryan De La Cruz reached first on a throwing error and reached second base on a groundout in the next inning, Nola got two quick outs to avoid further damage.

But in the fifth, he looked rushed; a pitcher confined by the clock. After Stallings’ double, Nola allowed a single to Luis Arraez and an RBI double to Josh Bell. He was pulled after that. He finished his night at 4⅓ innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.

Nola sat in the dugout to watch Jeff Hoffman try to get the two outs he wasn’t able to record. This has been a frustrating season for him, because of its inconsistency. He said it’s not a mental problem. He’s still searching for answers.

“Hampson got me I think on a pretty good pitch for a homer, and I felt like it just kind of unraveled,” Nola added. “I feel like it’s gone that way all year. Just kind of one big inning does it in for me for the start. I felt good, overall. My stuff felt pretty good. They just scratched five hits in a row.”

“I think [Nola is] a little frustrated,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He’s kind of a perfectionist. He’s a really hyper competitive guy. He wants to get it done, not only for himself, but for the team, so I think there is a lot of frustration.”

Hoffman allowed a sacrifice fly and struck out Chisholm with a runner on third to end the inning. He pitched the sixth, allowing just one single. He has quietly become someone Thomson can trust in high-leverage situations, specifically with runners on.

“I really don’t have a concern putting him out there against anybody at this point,” Thomson said of Hoffman. “He’s got a lot of confidence. He’s pounding the strike zone. He’s using his pitches. He’s really pitching well.”

Hoffman hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last seven appearances. He’s allowed just two hits and two walks over those seven games. He said earlier in the season that his stuff hasn’t been this good since college, and the numbers are backing that up.

“I’m happy with [how my stuff has evolved],” Hoffman said. “We took a step back and evaluated it and looked at who I really was as a pitcher. When it gets down to it, I’m a stuff guy. I’m pretty much just out there aiming for the square. If you throw my three pitches in the zone, it’s going to make the decisions for the hitter pretty hard.”

It was a good night for the bullpen, overall. The four relievers Thomson used — Hoffman, Gregory Soto, José Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel — allowed no runs, no walks, and three hits with six strikeouts.

Before Saturday, the last time Nick Castellanos batted eighth in a starting lineup was in 2015. He was 23 and playing in his second full big-league season with Detroit. A lot has changed since then, but, on Friday night, Thomson approached his slugger about temporarily returning to that spot.

It worked, if for one night. Castellanos went 2-for-3, putting his team on the board with a two-RBI double in the second. Part of what has made Castellanos a good hitter is his aggression, but within reason. He can’t be too aggressive, and over the past week or so, he has been swinging early and often (to the tune of a 3-for-29 slump entering Saturday’s game).

It is a small sample size, but Castellanos’ at-bats Saturday looked better. He took more pitches and walked in the eighth inning. The goal for the Phillies is to get him to a place of controlled aggression.

“I thought his at-bats were good,” Thomson said. “Big hit, first at-bat, gave us the lead. He saw some more pitches. Drew a walk. And another base hit, I believe. His at-bats were good.”

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Johnny Cueto — as deceptive as he is — is 37 years old and in his 16th major league season. It shows. He got two outs from the Phillies in the second on just seven pitches, and ended up throwing 43 more to end the inning.

After recording those first two outs in the second, Cueto allowed two singles, Castellanos’ two-RBI double, a walk to Jake Cave, a titanic three-run home run to Kyle Schwarber — after a nine-pitch at-bat — and a walk to Trea Turner. He threw 92 pitches through 3⅔ innings.

Hoffman said some of the relievers play a game in the bullpen, where they try to predict home runs. Three relievers — Hoffman, Alvarado, and Andrew Bellatti — predicted Schwarber’s.

“We had three guys calling that one,” Hoffman said. “It was fun.”

After the Marlins got within one run in the fifth, the Phillies piled on in the bottom of the frame. Against Marlins reliever Enmanuel De Jesus, Turner walked, Bryce Harper singled, and Bryson Stott was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.

Brandon Marsh doubled with two outs to score all three runners. De Jesus is a lefty, which is notable, considering Marsh has hit .236/.320/.382 against left-handed pitching this season (compared to .308/.401/.492 against righties).

That being said, he’s seen a significant improvement from where he was a season ago: hitting .188/.225/.260 against lefties, compared to .262/.315/.421 against righties. Marsh is hitting .357/.481/.500 over his last 15 games.

With their win on Saturday, the Phillies improved to 78-63. They now have a three-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in first place in the National League Wild Card race, and a four-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks.