PHILADELPHIA -- Well, the Phillies finally lost a series under interim manager Don Mattingly.
Not a big deal -- it was bound to happen at some point. So the fact that the Phillies dropped two of three to the Reds after winning their first six series under Mattingly obviously isn't a problem in and of itself.
However, the manner in which they did so brought some early-season concerns back to the forefront. Though winning -- which the Phillies have done plenty of lately -- can help mask many things, the club's season-long woes against left-handed starters haven't exactly gone away.
Nor have Aaron Nola's struggles.
Both were on full display in Wednesday afternoon’s 9-4 loss in the series finale at Citizens Bank Park, where Nola gave up four runs over five innings to increase his ERA to 6.04 in 10 starts this season.
“Not that great,” Nola said, when asked to evaluate his season to this point. “I felt better today, but I missed some balls over the plate, and they capitalized on them. Tough one again.”
Nola now has a 6.02 ERA in 27 outings going back to the start of last year. That ranks 120th out of 122 pitchers with at least 25 starts in that span.
"I take them all kind of individually instead of taking a large sample -- obviously, the large sample is a little bit of a trend that you don't like," Mattingly said. "But then try to take each one of them individually. Is he getting better? And then, how do we help him?"
That’s the biggest question facing the Phillies right now. Nola is working closely with pitching coach Caleb Cotham, the rest of the coaching staff and catcher J.T. Realmuto to hopefully nail down some answers.
“I feel like he's just a small adjustment away. ... It's still in there,” Realmuto said. “For me, it all comes down to command and being able to throw the ball where he wants. That's always when he's been at his best.”
That’s obviously a big part of what made Nola one of the most consistent pitchers in the Majors from 2017-24, when he led all pitchers in innings while putting up a 3.62 ERA and taking the ball in multiple clinching games for the Phils.
“It's tough to see anybody struggle, but especially somebody like Nola,” Realmuto said. “He works so hard, he's such a good competitor. He's gotten a lot of big outs for this team.
“We wouldn't be where we're at without him. So we're all pulling for him to get through it, and we have confidence that he will.”
Perhaps just as concerning for the Phillies, though, is what they’ve done -- or not done -- against left-handed pitching.
The only real damage the Phils did against Reds lefty Andrew Abbott came when Alec Bohm hooked a home run down the left-field line that just barely cleared the wall. That extended Bohm’s hitting streak to 11 games and also ended Abbott's day, but not before the Phillies were in a 5-2 hole in the bottom of the sixth.
Excluding openers, the Phillies have faced 15 left-handed starters this season. Those southpaws have combined to go 9-1 with a 2.24 ERA over 84 1/3 innings in those 15 outings.
The only left-handed starter to take a loss against the Phillies this season is Colorado's Kyle Freeland, who allowed six runs over five innings on May 9. If you remove that one offensive outburst, the other lefties have a 1.70 ERA in 14 starts against the Phils.
Overall, the Phillies are hitting just .217 (26th in MLB) with a .676 OPS against left-handed pitching this season.
The latest setback dropped Philadelphia (25-25) back to .500 -- and the schedule is about to toughen up considerably. Following Thursday’s off-day, the Phils will host three games against the AL Central-leading Guardians this weekend before playing 10 straight against the Padres and Dodgers, including a West Coast swing through San Diego and Los Angeles next week.
"We're fine," Mattingly said. "You're not going to win every day. I mean, I plan on winning every day, but that's going to happen."