PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies will spend their September not only trying to win games, but trying to figure out how their bullpen will run in October.
They tried rookie Alex McFarlane in the eighth inning in Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Braves at Citizens Bank Park. Aaron Nola allowed one run in seven innings for one of his best starts of the season against a team he has faced 40 times in his career. Derek Hill and Kyle Schwarber hit solo home runs in the bottom of the seventh to give the Phillies a three-run lead.
But McFarlane allowed a game-tying, three-run home run to Ronald Acuña Jr. to left-center field.
Jhoan Duran allowed a run in the ninth.
The Phillies are five games behind the Braves for first place in the NL East with 19 games to play.
McFarlane entered the game 4-1 with a 0.79 ERA in his first 11 appearances in the big leagues. He had become an unexpected late-inning option for Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, especially as Orion Kerkering has struggled to an 8.44 ERA in 19 appearances since July 22.
But McFarlane threw Acuña seven consecutive fastballs, and Acuña hit the last one for a game-changing blast.