Braves turn scoreless game through nine into a 5-1 win over the Phillies in 10

This was a brutal way to lose any game — but especially one in which Aaron Nola pitched six shutout innings. It was the type of performance the Phillies had been waiting for from Nola, but their offense and outfield defense made that a moot point in a 5-1 loss in 10 innings to the Braves on Thursday.

Phillies reliever Yunior Marté pitched the top of the 10th in a scoreless game. He induced a groundout by Orlando Arcia, allowed an RBI single to Michael Harris II (scoring Sam Hilliard from second), and another single to Ronald Acuna Jr. to put runners on second and third. He struck out Ozzie Albies to get the second out. But then Austin Riley hit a liner to left field, which Kyle Schwarber dove for and missed.

The misplay was not ruled an error at first but was later changed, and it altered the game. Two runs scored, and Marcell Ozuna followed with a two-run home run for a 5-0 lead. Instead of stopping the damage at one run, the Phillies faced a five-run deficit.

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Schwarber has long been a liability in left field. He has a -16 defensive runs saved (DRS) this season, which is the worst mark of his career. He has said multiple times — and reiterated on Thursday — that he’s not battling an injury, but he still doesn’t appear to be moving well. Regardless, his poor defense cost the Phillies.

“It’s very frustrating,” Schwarber said. “It’s a play that you make, plain and simple. Don’t really know how or why but you’ve got to catch it. Plain and simple. That’s not on Marté, or anyone else, the game is on me. I’ve got to catch that ball. I feel like if I catch it, we could extend the game, or we could win it in the 10th. So it’s frustrating.”

They weren’t able to muster up enough offense in the 10th. With J.T. Realmuto starting at second base, a single by Bryson Stott put runners on first and third for Alec Bohm, whose sacrifice fly scored Realmuto to make it 5-1. Kody Clemens popped out, and Cristian Pache walked to put runners on first and second for Schwarber, but he grounded out to end the game.

It was a lackluster ending, given how Nola pitched. For the first time since April 21, he didn’t allow a home run. He didn’t run into trouble in the third or fourth inning, as he typically does. But Nola also pitched well with runners on base, which could be important for the Phillies.

Entering Thursday, hitters were batting .304 against Nola with runners on, and .190 with the bases empty. The quality of his pitches has changed when he’s pitching out of the stretch vs. the windup. No one seems to have an answer why. Thursday, Nola didn’t allow many runners to reach base in the first place, but when he did, he maintained his composure.

In the fourth inning, he allowed a single to Riley, and with two outs, walked Matt Olson. But instead of spiraling out of control, he fought through an eight-pitch at-bat with Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud, retiring him on a lineout to right field.

In the sixth inning, Brandon Marsh botched a catchable ball in left field that bounced off the heel of his glove. Instead of a second out, Albies was on second. But again, Nola didn’t let things spiral. He needed only seven pitches to record the final two outs, a strikeout of Riley and a groundout by Ozuna. He threw 103 pitches in six innings, but allowed only two hits and two walks with five strikeouts over that span.

“I thought he was great, I really did, and they had some good at-bats against him too,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They had a ton of foul balls, which kind of drove his pitch count up. He located well, I thought all of his stuff was good.”

The Phillies needed that type of performance. It was their first time seeing Braves starter Bryce Elder, and he didn’t make things easy for them. Elder doesn’t throw hard, but he is efficient and has movement on his pitches, which induces a lot of ground balls. And that was precisely the type of contact the Phillies had against him.

Elder induced nine groundouts over his seven innings. He allowed just three hits, no runs, and two walks with six strikeouts. The Phillies didn’t fare much better against Braves reliever A.J. Minter, who struck out the side in the eighth, or Raisel Iglesias, who retired all three batters in the ninth. The Phillies went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

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Marsh, Stott, and Bohm were the only Phillies to record hits. Marsh went 2-for-2, exiting the game in the eighth after Pache came in as a pinch hitter. It was a promising sign for the center fielder, who is batting .308/.333/.385 over his last seven games. Marsh went through a cold streak toward the end of May and early June but seems to be heating up again.

The Phillies’ offense, as a whole, though, has been streaky of late. After a good road trip in Arizona and Oakland, they’ve managed just three runs over their past two games at home against the Braves, hitting for a combined 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Over their last seven days, the Phillies are tied for seventh in baseball in strikeouts, with 54. They have only 14 RBIs over that time (tied for 26th) with a .302 slugging percentage, which is also tied for 26th.

Thomson said he’s optimistic his lineup will turn things around.

“Just track record,” he said. “That’s all I can base it off of. I know (Bryce) Harper is going to hit home runs at some point. I know Trea Turner is going to hit home runs at some point. (Nick) Castellanos, and J.T. I mean, at some point, it’s going to happen.”

Reliever Gregory Soto, who entered in relief of Nola in the seventh inning, appeared to be stretching his hands in between pitches. The training staff gave him a visit but he remained in the game and struck out Arcia to end his outing.

Thomson said Soto is doing OK.

“It was just a cramp in his thumb, and by the time I got out there, he worked it out,” Thomson said.

The wind was strong, which impacted how the ball was flying. Despite that, Clemens made an impressive catch on a popout by Eddie Rosario in foul territory. The ball was difficult to track down with the wind, but Clemens made a leaping grab to secure the third and final out of the second inning.