Phillies vs. Marlins: Aaron Nola struggles and more baserunning blunders
Aaron Nola unraveled again in the middle innings and the Phillies ran themselves out of another rally in an 8-4 loss to the Marlins.
With one out and the Phillies trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Nola allowed hits to five of six batters in one of the Marlins’ best offensive innings of the season. Miami had been held to three runs or fewer in nine of 11 games before scoring three in that inning alone off of Nola. The Marlins scored one more in the seventh and three more in the eighth off of Connor Brogdon and Andrew Bellatti.
Through three starts, Nola is 0-2 with a 7.04 ERA.
Jesus Luzardo held the Phillies scoreless through five innings after Monday’s 15-run outburst. The Phils had trouble solving the lefty until Kyle Schwarber greeted him with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth. They scored twice more in the inning on Bryson Stott’s two-out single but Stott was thrown out after veering too far past the first-base bag, the MLB-worst eighth time this season the Phillies have been thrown out on the basepaths (excluding times caught stealing). That’s as many times as the Braves, Marlins, Rays, Cubs, Giants, Angels and Nationals combined.
The Phillies had the go-ahead run at the plate in the seventh but J.T. Realmuto grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Marlins went on to pick up additional insurance with a run off of Connor Brogdon and three more in the eighth against Andrew Bellatti.
Luis Arraez, the 2022 AL batting champion traded from Minnesota to Miami this offseason for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez, hit for the cycle. The best singles hitter around doubled in the first, tripled in the sixth, homered in the seventh and singled in the eighth. He’s hitting .537 on the season and is the first Marlins player ever to hit for the cycle.
Manager Rob Thomson changed the lineup, moving Stott from leadoff to eighth against Luzardo because of how difficult Luzardo has been against lefties. Thomson said Stott will be back atop the order Wednesday against right-hander Daniel Cabrera. Stott, for what it’s worth, has hit .293 vs. lefties in his big-league career, more than 50 points higher than his batting average against right-handers.
Nick Castellanos had another productive night at the plate with two hard-hit singles and a walk against Luzardo. He continues to have much better plate appearances than he had a year ago, working counts, seeing pitches and not chasing outside the zone nearly as much.
The Phillies (4-7) and Marlins (5-7) wrap up their three-game series Wednesday at 4:05 p.m. Zack Wheeler makes his third start. After the series ends, the Phillies do not face another NL East team until a series in Atlanta from May 25-29.
The Phillies need a starter to go deep into a game one of these days. Through 11 games, they’ve had a starter complete six innings only once: Nola last week at Yankee Stadium.
