Nola 'inconsistent' as Phils' win streak snapped at 6

PHILADELPHIA -- The day began with high hopes for the Phillies’ longest winning streak in nearly a year.

It finished with their first baseman in the pitcher’s spot.

There was no near no-hitter, no dramatic comeback and no walk-off heroics this time.

Philadelphia’s longest winning streak of the season ended with a whimper on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park with a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers, during which nothing really went right for the home team.

The Phils managed just six hits, Aaron Nola allowed a season-high six earned runs, and Kody Clemens was their most effective pitcher.

With the six-game winning streak over, the Phillies (31-33) actually stand one game further out of first place in the NL East than they did when it began. The Braves kept on streaking Saturday, winning their seventh straight.

Nola allowed more earned runs in his first four innings than the Phillies’ entire rotation did during its previous five starts. He left with the bases loaded and the Dodgers winning 3-0 in the seventh. Jeff Hoffman could not bail him out, hitting a batter, allowing a run to score on a wild pitch and giving up two hits -- including a three-run home run to J.D. Martinez. Suddenly, a winnable game had become a monumental deficit. Clemens, who also extended his hitting streak to a career-high five games, retired the side on five pitches in the ninth.

“I thought [Nola] was better than his line,” said manager Rob Thomson, who received his second career ejection in the top of the sixth. “I thought his stuff was actually pretty good today. He got a lot of swings and misses. He got into the seventh there and just kind of fell apart.”

It really didn’t matter how well Nola pitched. In the second, the Phillies had two runners in scoring position with one out and the bases loaded with two outs, but otherwise did not threaten to score until the game was out of hand.

Dodgers rookie Bobby Miller was masterful in his fourth career start. Miller, who one-hit the Yankees over six innings in his previous outing, has yet to allow more than one earned run in a start.

Had they made it seven in a row, it would have represented the Phils’ longest wining streak since Aug. 3-10, 2022, when they won seven in a row.

It’s been another seesaw of a season. The six-game winning streak was preceded by a five-game losing streak, the fourth of four or more games this year. Conversely, they’ve had three streaks of four or more wins in a row. The Phillies won five in a row in the middle of May and immediately followed that with five straight losses.

Nola’s season has been a microcosm of his team’s. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his last start, after failing to record a quality start in his previous two outings. He struck out 10 over seven innings of two-run ball in the start before that.

“I’ve been inconsistent,” Nola said.

Home runs have been a problem. When David Peralta went yard to make it 3-0 in the third, it meant that Nola had allowed a home run for the 10th consecutive start.

“It was a bad pitch,” Nola said. “Just a solo home run. You don’t want to give up homers ever.”

The rotation had set the tone during the winning streak. Not counting openers, Phillies starters had allowed just two earned runs in their previous 34 1/3 innings.

Early on, Nola looked like he might continue the trend. He cruised until he allowed a two-out, two-strike double to James Outman in the third. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts followed with back-to-back hits to make it 2-0.

Thomson summed up the unraveling as “just a lack of execution at the wrong time.”

He was talking about his starting pitcher. But, for the first time in a week, it applied to the entire team.