As recently as a week ago, one of the firm foundations of the Phillies belief that they could play deep into the postseason and had as good a chance as anybody of bringing home the World Series hardware was that their four-pack of starting pitchers could match up with anybody.
Even as Ranger Suárez has struggled to regain his mojo after two visits to the injured list (2-4, 6.02 in his last 8 starts), they could console themselves with the thought that Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez was still a pretty doggone good 1-2-3.
After Nola was rocked in a 11-3 loss to the Mets on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park, though, ya gotta believe that just the slightest hint of doubt is beginning to creep in.
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The Phillies, of course, will deny that they’re worried in the least. They’ll point to Nola’s track record and his composure and his previous successes in the playoffs. But the stark reality is that he’s given up 15 runs (11 earned) while failing to complete five innings in either of his last two starts.
“I think it’s just a little bit of (lack of) command,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They put a lot of pitches on him the first two innings. I think that took a toll on him. I have no concern. We’re not in (the postseason). I’ve said that all along. But I think his performance in October has showed he can bounce back.”
Nola ended up throwing 90 pitches. . .just four less than Mets starter Jose Quintana needed to complete seven innings.
“I threw some bad pitches,” the righthander said bluntly when asked what had gone awry.
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Nola battled through some September struggles last season but righted himself. “I’ve just got to eliminate the big inning,” he said when asked what he’s learned from that experience. “That fifth really got away from me. But I’m going to keep doing what I usually do and try to finish as best I can. That’s really all I can do. Flush this one and get ready for my next outing in Milwaukee.
What made Nola’s Friday the 13th outing even more of a stroll through the Twilight Zone was that he didn’t allow a hit to any of the first dozen batters he faced. He then gave up six hits to the next seven Mets hitters in two identical sets: single-single-homer (to Francisco Alavarez) followed after one out by single-single-homer (to Brandon Nimmo).
“I left some bad pitches over the plate,” he said. “Two hanging curve balls. The curve ball to Alavrez popped right out of my hand.”
And, that quickly, he was gone. His final line: 4.1 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 W, 7 K. In his last two outings, Nola’s earned run average has jumped from 3.29 to 3.62.
“It was command,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “I felt like it was pretty good early in the game, throwing the ball pretty much where he wanted. And then he probably went five straight batters not throwing the ball where we were wanting it, just kind of missing spots. Against a team like that, when you don’t pitch with location, they’re going to make you pay.
The problem, of course, is that this is the second straight start in which lack of command was cited as the reason for Nola’s ineffectiveness. And how does that old saying go?
Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern. . .