Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker hit hard by Marlins to snap Phillies’ win streak at six

MIAMI — Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

With Aaron Nola lacking his best stuff and the Phillies generating little offense through seven innings save for a pair of Garrett Stubbs bunt singles, maybe manager Rob Thomson’s decision to use Taijuan Walker with a three-run deficit Saturday would’ve been inconsequential anyway.

But the Phillies did hang 16 runs and 22 hits on the last-place Marlins one night earlier, and it hasn’t taken much lately for the bats to awaken. Given that backdrop, bringing in the No. 5 starter-turned-mopup man felt, well, white flag-ish.

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Sure enough, White Flag Walker served up three runs (two earned) in the seventh inning to drop the Phillies down a six-run hole in what turned out to be a 9-5 loss before 23,189 paying customers in South Florida.

“They hit some balls hard on pitches kind of down the middle,” Thomson said. “Now, that inning before he came in, that was a quick inning on offense, so he didn’t have a whole lot of time to get ready. Not to make an excuse, but I take that into account anyway.”

OK, so you can’t win ‘em all. But in busting a six-game winning steak — and freezing the magic number to clinch the NL East at 14 — was there a better option than Walker in a game that wasn’t entirely lost, at least until he got on the mound?

“The only other guy really was Lazar,” Thomson said.

Max Lazar, that is. And the 25-year-old righty gave up three runs in his last two outings after seven scoreless appearances to begin his major-league career.

It didn’t help that Nola gave up five runs and lasted only 4⅔ innings. Thomson hoped he could at least complete the fifth, but a two-out single by Griffin Conine on Nola’s 101st pitch scuttled that idea.

José Ruiz and lefty Tanner Banks, frequent options for Thomson when the Phillies are trailing, were the first two relievers out of the bullpen. (Ruiz faced one batter and got the last out of the fifth inning before Banks came on for the sixth.)

Thomson doesn’t typically use Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, or certainly closer Carlos Estévez when the Phillies are trailing. Down 6-3 in the seventh — and with Seth Johnson set to make his major-league debut Sunday — the manager wanted to steer clear of Orion Kerkering and especially José Alvarado, who threw 17 pitches Friday night.

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The choice, then, was Walker. The Phillies removed the veteran righty — and his 6.50 ERA in 14 starts — from the rotation last week. He almost certainly won’t pitch in the playoffs. But unless they release him and swallow the nearly $39 million left on his contract, they can’t hide him completely for the final three weeks of the regular season.

In his first relief appearance earlier this week in Toronto, he entered in the fourth inning with the Phillies trailing by two runs and gave up two runs in three innings of an eventual 10-9 victory.

There are challenges for Walker in the bullpen. He takes more time to warm up than experienced relievers. But the biggest issue is familiar. Diminished velocity on his fastball creates less separation with his signature splitter, making both pitches less effective.

Walker allowed a solo homer to Otto Lopez on a 90-mph sinker, then walked Griffin Conine. Nick Fortes smacked a first-pitch splitter for a double before Conine scored on a fielder’s choice and Fortes came home on a throwing error by shortstop Trea Turner.

Ballgame.

“Our defense didn’t help him very much,” Thomson said. “It’s one of those things. Trial and error, and we’ll see if he can adjust to that role.”

Nola threw several good curveballs, but his downfall stemmed from imprecise command of his fastball. After being staked to a 1-0 lead on Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff double and a two-out RBI single from Nick Castellanos, Nola left a sinker over the plate that Connor Norby banged for a go-ahead two-run homer.

“It was just a slidestep sinker at 91 [mph] that really didn’t do much,” Nola said. “Just played right into his swing.”

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Said Stubbs: “I don’t think the location of the heater was exactly where we wanted it to be, which happens. Also felt like when we didn’t locate the fastballs, some of them were ground balls that just found holes. That [stinks] at times.”

Nola gave up an unearned run in the third inning when third baseman Kody Clemens bounced a throw to first base. Norby notched a two-out RBI single in the fourth, and Jonah Bride ambushed a first-pitch fastball for a leadoff homer in the fifth.

But the biggest disappointment for Nola was failing to finish five innings. It was his shortest start since June 13 in Boston, and it forced Thomson to choose between Walker to keep the game close and making sure the bullpen was fresh for Sunday’s series finale.

“I threw way too many pitches,” Nola said. “And then when I did get over the plate a little bit, I left too many up over the plate. It always [stinks] when you don’t finish through five innings at least, so the bullpen has to eat those innings up. Just one of those weird days.”