Aaron Nola unraveled again in the middle innings and the Phillies ran themselves out of another rally in an 8-4 loss to the Marlins.
With one out and the Phillies trailing 1-0 in the top of the sixth, Nola allowed hits to five of six batters in one of the Marlins' best offensive innings of the season. Miami had been held to three runs or fewer in nine of 11 games before scoring three in that inning alone off of Nola.
Through three starts, Nola is 0-2 with a 7.04 ERA.
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"I've had two really bad innings, first game and this game," he said. "Other than that, other innings I've felt pretty good. No walks today. Just taking the positives away, keep on pushing, focus on next outing and my command, try to keep my pitches sharp."
Jesus Luzardo held the Phillies scoreless through five innings after Monday's 15-run outburst. The Phils had trouble solving the lefty until Kyle Schwarber greeted him with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the sixth. They scored twice more in the inning on Bryson Stott's two-out single but Stott was thrown out after veering too far past the first-base bag, the MLB-worst eighth time this season the Phillies have been thrown out on the basepaths (excluding times caught stealing). That's as many times as the Braves, Marlins, Rays, Cubs, Giants, Angels and Nationals combined.
The Marlins went on to pick up additional insurance with a seventh-inning run off of Connor Brogdon and three more in the eighth against Andrew Bellatti, but it could have been a different game if the inning extended after Stott's knock.
Stott, hitting .422 after another two-hit night, took accountability.
MLB
"It's just not a very good play by myself," he said. "I think we had all the momentum there when I got back-picked at first. Who knows what would've happened after that, if they would've scored four more runs or not. Just to kind of give ourselves a chance in that spot would have been nice."
The Phils had 11 hits but it was another poor night with runners in scoring position. They went 1 for 10 and stranded nine. They had several key run-scoring opportunities, including the seventh inning when J.T. Realmuto grounded into an inning-ending double play as the potential go-ahead run.
"We were close to winning this game," Nick Castellanos said.
Luis Arraez, the 2022 AL batting champion traded from Minnesota to Miami this offseason for starting pitcher Pablo Lopez, hit for the cycle. The best singles hitter around doubled in the first, tripled in the sixth, homered in the seventh and singled in the eighth. He's hitting .537 on the season and is the first Marlins player ever to hit for the cycle.
Manager Rob Thomson changed the lineup, moving Stott from leadoff to eighth against Luzardo because of how difficult Luzardo has been against lefties. Thomson said Stott will be back atop the order Wednesday against right-hander Daniel Cabrera. Stott, for what it's worth, has hit .293 vs. lefties in his big-league career, more than 50 points higher than his batting average against right-handers.
Castellanos had another productive night at the plate with two hard-hit singles and a walk against Luzardo. He continues to have much better plate appearances than he had a year ago, working counts, seeing pitches and not chasing outside the zone nearly as much. The Phillies are 4-7 but that is an encouraging sign.
"Earlier in my career when I was hitting more at the top of the lineup, I wasn't thinking about walking or chasing or things like that, I was taking more aggressive swings," he said. "But I'm in a spot where the game has to come to me more. It's just an adjustment I have to make but I'll figure it out."
The Phillies and Marlins wrap up their three-game series Wednesday at 4:05 p.m. Zack Wheeler makes his third start. After the series ends, the Phillies do not face another NL East team until a series in Atlanta from May 25-29.
The Phillies need a starter to go deep into a game one of these days. Through 11 games, they've had a starter complete six innings only once: Nola last week at Yankee Stadium.
"It taxes the bullpen, for sure," Thomson said. "We've got to figure it out. We've worked those guys pretty good. We have to get some length at some point to settle the 'pen down a little bit, and we will."