One night, it wasn’t a swinging bunt or a soft jam shot that killed Phillies pitchers. Instead, hard contact from the Cubs lineup plagued Nola’s night.
Aaron Nola returned to the mound to start his second inning at Wrigley, and the Cubs’ bats swooped in after an offense behind him loaded the bases with two outs.
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Ian Happ hits a 111.5 mph rocket over Adolis Garcia. Moisés Ballesteros passed the ball to Garcia again. After a walk by Michael Conforto, Nola had one of its best situations, a routine double play by Miguel Amaya on a curveball.
The Cubs lineup doesn’t stop after the first seven batters. Their eight-hole hitter, Pete Crow-Armstrong, recently signed a contract extension worth $115 million and will play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He takes a walk.
Dansby Swanson as their nine-hole hitter? The highly paid two-time All-Star crushed a center-cut fastball to make it 4-0.
In the third inning, instead of going head-to-head, Michael Busch hit an outfield single off Brandon Marsh. Alex Bregman then hit another center-cut fastball for a double. A few batters later, Michael Conforto caught the ball in the air for an extra run.
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The Phillies offense once again looked lifeless. Including tonight, they have scored ten points in six straight losses. They slugged the night at No. 21, yielding just one extra hit, an RBI double by Justin Crawford who moved up to eighth in the lineup on a catch by Rafael Marchand.
Aaron Nola allowed four runs and three runs, allowing five runs on eight hits and a surprising four walks. He couldn’t command his arm-side fastball, and his curveball didn’t generate enough chase.
The other two-thirds of this game was covered by the depth of the Phillies bullpen, which was very much in line with having Joan Duran, Jonathan Bowland and Zach Pope on the injured list. Backhus faced right-handed hitters Seiya Suzuki and Matt Shaw in the fifth inning.
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For the second night in a row, Chase Shugart got a centerfield reliever with the Phillies trailing. He hit 96 mph again and went two scoreless innings. Seth Johnson struggled to get two fast base runners out, but used his four-seam fastball to get the next three batters out.
Even with their depth weapons keeping Cubs hitters quiet, the Phillies offense couldn’t get much out of the few opportunities they got.
In the eighth inning, Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm drew walks to Holby Milner, putting runners on first and second. With two outs, Bryson Stout was left to face sidearm left-hander Gabe Kapler, once known as “The Nasty Brother.” After completing a two-for-two count, Stout hit a sweeper to end the inning.
In the ninth inning, Justin Crawford dealt nine walks to Corbin Martin. He later reached second on a bad catch attempt and then tripled on a wild pitch.
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The Phillies had three more chances in scoring position, but held them to 0 runs over their final 20 games. Muschamp stayed at bat and hit a popup to Alex Bregman. Trea Turner got the pitch he wanted, but Matt Shaw flopped. Kyle Schwarber hit a pop-up ball in the foul zone to end the game.
The Cubs defense made a few plays tonight, turning hits into outs, and the Phillies saw Crawford fail to throw two different balls to center field. Colin Ray threw six and two-thirds of one-run ball, and Nola was unable to complete five innings.
If it were June and the Phillies were in first place, the pressure wouldn’t be mounting on this game. It won’t happen the second night Ken Rosenthal speculates on Rob Thomson’s job security. There doesn’t have to be a massive conclusion or reaction.
But with an 8-14 start, the Phillies had to rise to the occasion.
