PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola's bid to save the Philadelphia Phillies' shaky playoff hopes by starting on two days' rest did not go well, and he was pulled after being rocked for three runs in the first inning.
With the Phillies' attempt at clinching an NL wild card teetering on an epic collapse, Nola was hit hard Saturday night on just about every ball in play and left trailing 3-0.
The Phillies turned to Nola on short notice after he struck out eight
over 88 pitches and six innings in his last start Wednesday and took the loss as Philadelphia fell to Milwaukee 4-1.
The Phillies lost the next two games headed into Saturday and saw their NL wild-card lead over Arizona whittled to one game. Arizona plays Saturday night against San Diego.
The Phillies are 9-13 in September. Their magic number remained at two headed into Saturday.
Philadelphia had a 6 1/2-game lead over Arizona for the third NL wild card on Sept. 1 before going into a tailspin. The Diamondbacks got hot and took a six-game winning streak into Saturday’s game, and they hold the tiebreaker over the Phillies.
The Padres and Chicago Cubs have clinched wild-card spots.
AL hits leader Yandy Diaz hit a leadoff double and Nola hung a knuckle-curve that Junior Caminero hit for a two-run homer. Caminero’s 42nd homer gave him 101 RBIs.
Victor Mesa Jr. doubled and scored when Richie Palacios lined a 101-mph shot off the right field wall for the 3-0 lead.
The Phillies hoped Nola could make it at least once through the order. He instead lasted only 21 pitches. Tanner Banks pitched the second inning.
Should the race come down to Sunday, the Phillies will be forced to throw ace Zack Wheeler, which would burn him for potential Game 1 or 2 starts in the NL Wild Card Series.
Mattingly said the Phillies only briefly flirted with the idea of bumping up Wheeler a day.
Nola skipped his usual bullpen session Friday so he could take the mound against the AL East champion Rays. Mattingly said the right-hander throws 40-to-50-pitch bullpen sessions between starts and might not go much longer than that Saturday.
“If anybody's built for this,” Mattingly said, “it's probably Nola. He's a guy that's probably more old-school than anybody.”
The Phillies are in a bind with All-Star lefty Jesús Luzardo still on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Luzardo can be activated on Sunday and would be available to pitch if the Phillies need him.
The Phillies were shut out for the 12th time this season in Friday's 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay and have scored two runs over the last 27 innings. They have homered only once in their last 55 innings.
Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto entered in an 0-for-32 funk that’s dipped his average to .206.
NL batting leader and starting second baseman Luis Arraez is out indefinitely with a severely sprained left ankle. His absence sparked some lineup shuffling the last two games, with Bryce Harper back at first base and Bryan De La Cruz starting in right field. Bryson Stott was again at second base.
The Phillies could have clinched a wild card as early as Wednesday. They started Saturday — where heavy rain had a tarp on the field — suddenly in the conversation on the Philly sports scene as a team potentially poised to join the short list of worst collapses in franchise history.
Trea Turner was moved to the leadoff spot while Kyle Schwarber was dropped to second in the order.
“I just think there's pressure all the time,” Mattingly said ahead of the game. “I've always felt if you put pressure on yourself all the time to perform and hold yourself to a standard, this game is really no different than any other game. Obviously, we know there's a lot at stake. That's the beauty of kind of playing at a level all the time.”
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