Nola's 11-K roll slowed by Cubs' 3-HR surge

PHILADELPHIA -- Fans sitting in Citizens Bank Park's right-field corner on Sunday were wearing purple T-shirts for the inaugural "French Quarter," a subsection introduced to honor the Phillies' Cy Young contender, Aaron Nola, whose start had been moved up a day to allow him to pitch in the environment in which he most often succeeds.
Nola matched the fanfare by striking out 11 batters in 5 2/3 innings. That mattered little because he also allowed three home runs -- solo shots to Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Báez -- in an 8-1 loss to the Cubs on Sunday afternoon, when not even another gem would have been enough to overcome an abysmal offensive series against Chicago.
"The games are limited right now," Nola said. "It's the last month of the regular season. We have to find ways to win. We just have to take it game by game, at-bat by at-bat, down the stretch. I think every game is super important right now for us. A win is everything right now."
Nola entered Sunday having pitched 12 games at home, and the Phillies had won them all. Now, they've lost his past two starts overall, and the 15-game winner's ERA climbed to 2.23.
What was worse for the Phillies was that they were held to four runs in the three-game series. They fell to four games behind first-place Atlanta in the National League East. They arrived here six days ago having lost 12 of their last 19, but six games at Citizens Bank Park -- where they now have a 43-26 record -- offered a prime chance to revive their season heading into the final month. They then dropped four of six, and home-backed boos couldn't drown out "Let's go, Cubbies" chants in the ninth inning.
The latest Phillies lineup, which scored its lone run during that same final frame, was constructed to protect Nola, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. Pedro Florimón started at second, and Jorge Alfaro caught. The offense shared the blame for leaving eight runners on base.

"I'm not concerned about our offense," Kapler said. "I'll tell you this: I think our offense is better, more balanced, our lineup is deeper and we have more weapons now than we did a month ago, when we were in first place in the National League East."
Twenty-six games remain. And the Phillies won't be giving up on the division race anytime soon, because they face Atlanta in seven of their last 11 games. If anything, this up-and-down week showed how quickly the standings can fluctuate. They went from 4 1/2 to two games behind the Braves in two days. The Phillies lost a game on a crushing 9th-inning home run, and days later celebrated a walk-off homer with showers of Gatorade and bubble gum.
"There's urgency to win every baseball game," Kapler said. "But I don't think it's like, 'Oh no, we're running out of time.' That's not our mindset, and it will not be our mindset."
The Phillies are preaching positivity. They are confident, as Rhys Hoskins said, that they still have better baseball left in them. They have not won any of their past eight series, but Nick Williams described their current rut "like that rock in your shoe that you don't have time to get out yet." It will take consistency, especially at the plate, to get it out.
"I think good teams find ways to bounce back," Hoskins said, "and I know we still have plenty of time to do that."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Chances missed: In the first, Roman Quinn tried to stretch a leadoff double but was thrown out at third base by left fielder Kyle Schwarber. The miscue proved costly when José Bautista and Carlos Santana followed with one-out singles off Cubs starter Jon Lester. Kapler said Quinn made the right decision to go for the extra base.

"I would say 49 out of 50 times, he's going to be safe at third base," Kapler said. "The absolute perfect storm occurred. [Schwarber] picked up the ball, made an absolutely perfect throw, and he was out. But Roman made the read. It was a possible out in left-center field. There was no hesitation. It was full go, and I'd bet on that outcome being a triple most of the time."
Lester worked around eight hits to hold the Phillies scoreless over his six innings, striking out seven.

SOUND SMART
Nola has allowed multiple home runs in just 10 of his 88 career starts. Three of those starts have come on Sept. 2 (2015, '17, '18). He did not pitch in September 2016 because of an injury.
"All my pitches felt pretty good today, especially my curveball and fastball," Nola said. "I feel like I had life on my fastball today. I missed a couple of pitches for solo home runs."

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Nola struck out seven Cubs the first time through the order and retired six consecutive batters via the strikeout across the second and third innings. He finished with 11 strikeouts, with 10 coming in the first 14 batters, to reach double digits for the sixth time this season and eighth time in his career.
"The way Nola came out firing," Kapler said, "it kind of looked like we were going to see something historic today."

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Bautista charged Schwarber's grounder to third base in the 8th inning and threw to first only to have Schwarber called safe on a close play. The Phillies challenged, and the call was overturned after replay showed that the ball made contact with the inside of Santana's glove before Schwarber stepped on the bag.

HE SAID IT
"I think we're focused on Miami." -- Hoskins, when asked if a sense of urgency is needed at this point in the season
UP NEXT
The Phillies' push for a postseason spot continues in Miami with a three-game series vs. the Marlins to open a weeklong road trip. Vince Velasquez (9-9, 4.05 ERA) faces José Ureña (4-12, 4.56) on Monday with a 1:10 p.m. ET first pitch on Labor Day. In two starts against the Marlins this year, Velasquez has allowed just six hits and one run while striking out 13 in 12 1/3 innings.