The hot weather in Kansas City appeared to agree with Aaron Nola. The Phillies’ starter pitched his best start of the season, going seven innings while giving up three runs. Unfortunately, it was wasted because the Phillies’ offense and bullpen came up small in a 5-2 loss.
In the first inning, it didn’t look like it was going to be a good day for Nola. With one man on and two outs, Nola gave up a double to Lane Thomas and a single to Michael Massey to put the Phillies in a 0-2 hole.
Things improved in the second. With two men on and two outs, Nola got Bobby Witt, Jr. out to end the threat. That seemed to settle Nola down, and he pitched clean innings in the third and fourth.
The Phillies’ offense was racking up zero run innings of their own against an unspectacular array of pitchers. Starter Luinder Avila came in with a 5.40 ERA, but he limited the Phillies to one run in five innings. The only damage they did against him was in the fifth when they cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth on a Bryson Stott triple and a Gabriel Rincones sacrifice fly.
The Royals got that run right back in the bottom of the inning thanks to two hits and a sacrifice fly of their own.
The Royals handed the Phillies a run in the seventh by botching two potential double plays. Stott led off with a single, and after Rincones flied out, Justin Crawford hit a ball to third base that looked like it might end the inning. Instead, Josh Rojas threw the ball into right field giving the Phillies runners at the corners.
Garrett Stubbs then hit a comebacker to the mound, but pitcher John Schreiber double clutched on his throw to second. The delay let Stubbs beat the relay throw to first, allowing Stott to score a run.
That was it for the Phillies’ offense. The Royals bullpen isn’t well thought of, but they didn’t give up any earned runs in four innings and retired the final seven batters in order. The top five batters in the Phillies’ lineup went a combined 1-18, and Bryce Harper had a particularly rough game. He struck out three times and had two decisive ABS challenges go against him.
Nola’s day was over after seven, and if nothing else, he kept the game close. Once he left the game, the Phillies’ bullpen made it not so close. Seth Johnson walked two batters, and Kyle Backhus gave up a double to Perez that scored them, essentially sealing the game for the Royals.
The Phillies might have played as if it was a getaway game, but the series will continue tomorrow afternoon when Cristopher Sanchez takes the mound looking to secure a series victory. Hopefully, Sanchez will pitch the way we’re accustomed to, and this time, the rest of the team will follow suit.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.thegoodphight.com ’
