After taking a wild game one of the series, the Philadelphia Phillies (80-59) dropped game two to the Milwaukee Brewers (86-54) by a score of 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Nola’s nightmare season continues as he endured the worst opening frame of his career, giving up five runs in the first inning by allowing the first five Milwaukee hitters to reach base via a walk, a hit by pitch, a pair of singles and a three-run homer by Isaac Collins. Nola’s ERA is a beefy 6.78.
Brewers’ starter, Jose Quintana, kept the offense off balance for most of the early going despite giving up seven hits and three walks. The Phillies had runners on base in five of the first six innings but Quintana worked out of jams by inducing a couple of double plays–the first courtesy of a JT Realmuto baserunning gaffe–and his defense did the rest. He also fielded all three 1-3 grounders in the third to tie the major league record.
There was a scary moment in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brice Turang hit deep fly to the left field gap that Weston Wilson and Harrison Bader both tried to field and collided en route, the ball falling for an RBI double.
The offense did eventually get to Quintana with an RBI single by Trea Turner in the top of the fifth, the first of his two hits to go with a walk on the night.
After Nick Castellanos singled to begin the sixth inning, Wilson chased Quintana from the game with a mammoth 2-1 bomb to bring the deficit within striking distance.
Max Lazar, Orion Kerkering and Lou Trivino pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Nola. It was the best Kerkering has looked in a while, setting down the side in order with two swinging Ks to end the eighth inning.
But the Brewers’ bullpen matched the Phillies’ punch for punch, as Aaron Ashby, Abner Uribe and Jared Koenig continued to subdue the lineup from making any late comeback bid.
The series decider is tomorrow afternoon as Ranger Suarez is set to face off against Freddy Peralta.
