Aaron Nola was hit around early and often in the series finale in Atlanta on Sunday, surrendering six runs in the first two innings of his outing as the Philadelphia Phillies (9-19) dropped the series finale to the Braves (20-9) 6-2 at Truist Park.
After snapping their 10-game losing streak on Saturday, the Phillies were hoping to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since winning the first two games at Colorado on April 3-4. That was not to be.
Instead, the Phillies were unable to generate much of anything and have lost 15 of their last 18 games.
Nola failed to give the Phillies five full innings as the starting pitching continued to falter. The righty lasted just 4 ⅔ innings, surrendering the six early runs and getting tagged for a pair of home runs in the process. After the tough outing, Nola's season ERA is 6.03.
The Phillies have yet to have a starting pitcher complete seven innings in a game this season, the longest stretch in team history.
Three batters into his afternoon, Nola gave up a three-run home run to Matt Olson to put the Phillies in an early 3-0 hole. In the second inning, Eli White hit a two-run shot and Drake Baldwin added an RBI single to double up Atlanta’s lead.
Chris Sale stymied the Phillies for the second time in as many starts, twirling six shutout innings, allowing just one hit while racking up nine strikeouts.
Kyle Schwarber hit his ninth homer of the season in the eighth inning to avoid the shutout and was just one of two hits the offense mustered in the game. The other hit came with two outs in the third inning from Trea Turner, where the Phillies loaded the bases but were unable to capitalize.
The Phillies finished the road trip 1-6 and are now 10 ½ games out of first, with the Braves pacing the NL East, becoming the first team in MLB to win 20 games.
After the off day on Monday, the Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park Tuesday, welcoming the San Francisco Giants for a three-game series.
