CHICAGO -- Having just faced the Cubs a week ago, Phillies manager Rob Thomson noted one key way to ensure his club’s struggles against Chicago weren’t replicated once again in Monday’s series opener at Wrigley Field.
“We’ve got to stay away from long innings here,” Thomson said. “We ran into that when they were over to our place ... so we’ve got to be a little bit more efficient.”
For at least one frame, starter Aaron Nola appeared to be up for the challenge, as he quickly set down the first three Cubs hitters on just six pitches. Unfortunately, the next two frames were the exact kind of grueling efforts Thomson was hoping to avoid.
In the span of two innings, Nola had thrown 57 pitches and the Phillies found themselves facing a five-run deficit. The efficiency that was teased in the opening frame gave way to a slew of hits and walks for Chicago, which produced more than enough to secure a 5-1 win and push a struggling Phillies club to its sixth straight loss.
“It's been really difficult,” Nola said. “Right now, it feels like when things go wrong, they really go wrong.”
Nola, who was out of the first in the blink of an eye after inducing mostly weak contact, quickly ran into trouble to start the second. After showing no hesitation to go after Nola’s first-inning pitches, Cubs hitters began waiting him out and forcing him to attack the zone. More often than not, it resulted in the opposing batter getting on base, either via hit or free pass.
The Phillies’ right-hander gave up back-to-back singles to Ian Happ and Moisés Ballesteros before walking two of the next three batters. Though it initially appeared as though a run-scoring double play might be his only blemish, Nola left a sinker right in the heart of the plate that Dansby Swanson sent a Statcast-projected 424 feet to center for a three-run homer.
The Cubs added two more hits and a walk in the third, a frame in which Nola threw 30 pitches. He departed after just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and four walks. Only 46 of his 88 pitches on the night were strikes. Asked if there was any one particular pitch that he felt was off during the outing, Nola simply said, “All of them.”
“After the first inning, it just seemed like he was having trouble getting ahead,” Thomson said. “Trouble commanding his fastball, wasn't landing his breaking ball. I don’t know whether the balls were a little slick or what, but yeah, four walks [is] kind of uncharacteristic for him. It was a tough one.”
Philadelphia’s offense, meanwhile, remained just as snake-bitten as it was during its incredibly trying homestand. Throughout the night, near-hits turned into highlight-reel defensive plays by Chicago’s defense.
In the first inning, Bryce Harper laced a 106.4 mph grounder up the middle that was snared by a diving Nico Hoerner. This came one at-bat after Kyle Schwarber hit a foul ball towards left that looked unplayable until Happ snagged it in the netting along the third-base line. Schwarber fell victim to another Chicago web gem in the seventh when, with two outs and a man on second, he drilled what appeared to be a sure hit were it not for Hoerner diving once again to snatch a rally away from the Phillies.
Add in right fielder Matt Shaw stealing any hopes of a late comeback with a diving catch on Trea Turner’s ninth-inning liner, and you had a night where it seemed every break went Chicago’s way.
“I thought we had really good at-bats all night, and I think they made six or seven diving plays,” Harper said. “So tip your cap to that defense, they played really well tonight.”
Those plays also further illustrated a pair of teams continually on the receiving end of completely different outcomes. The Cubs have been consistently coming through with clutch moments while riding a six-game winning streak. The Phillies, on the other hand, know exactly what they need to dig themselves out of this funk -- efficient pitching and hard-hit balls finding grass -- but they just can’t seem to come across it.
“It's not where you want to be, obviously,” Harper said. “It's not where we thought we were gonna be starting the season. But we can't really think about that. Gotta flush things as quick as possible and get into tomorrow.”