PHILADELPHIA -- In a season in which the White Sox offense has a .157 batting average with runners in scoring position and the rotation hasn't provided length, Sunday's game was another example of the struggles the team has displayed in winning just three of its first 21 games.

White Sox right-hander Nick Nastrini was given a 2-0 lead after a half inning thanks to a two-run homer by Eloy Jiménez, but ended up throwing too many pitches and couldn’t get past the fourth inning as the Phillies won 8-2 at Citizens Bank Park. It marked the fourth time the White Sox have been swept this season.

Nastrini, the Sox’s No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, made just his second big-league start on Sunday; it was the antithesis of his first one against the Royals this past Monday, where he went five innings and allowed two runs off three hits.

“I don’t think Nick had his command today,” said manager Pedro Grifol. “He didn’t have a feel for his fastball.”

Nastrini threw 31 pitches in the first inning. Walks to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner started the inning, and Schwarber scored on a single by Bryce Harper which put Turner on third.

J.T. Realmuto followed and struck out, but Harper found himself in a rundown between first and second. The White Sox couldn’t get anything right on defense. Turner stole home on the play to tie the game and Harper ended up reaching second on the misplay.

“We didn’t execute defensively,” Grifol said. “We had that botched rundown. It wasn’t executed correctly. You have to run that guy [Harper] hard back to the bag and get the out there. If you give up the run, you give up the run. You have to minimize damage in this ballpark with these guys. … When you are struggling, it magnifies it a little bit more. We have to play perfect baseball. We have to win with pitching and defense right now until the hitting gets going. We are not doing that, we are going to struggle.”

Harper would later score in the inning on a Brandon Marsh single to give Philadelphia the lead. By the time he left the game, Nastrini allowed six runs (five earned) in three-plus innings.

“I wasn’t good,” Nastrini said. “I fell behind a bunch. I wasn’t executing my fastball when I wanted to. The changeup was a non-factor. I beat myself up there. I have to be better than that.”

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola settled down after the first inning, ultimately throwing eight innings of two-run ball and striking out seven batters.

“Nola found his groove,” Grifol said. “He started throwing his sweeper a little more than he did in the first inning. He shut us down.”

Despite the worst start in franchise history, the attitude in the clubhouse is better than expected. Grifol refuses to put added pressure on the team. He believes the White Sox will find themselves on a winning streak soon.

“We are [21] games in. Our record sucks. It is what it is. But you can’t look back,” Grifol said before Sunday’s game. “You have to look to improve every single day and play the game hard and it’s going to break. But I’m not going to sit here and feel sorry for [us]. All I can do is learn from what has happened, teach, continue to have an environment where guys can go out there and perform and feel free to perform as opposed to creating an environment full of pressure. That doesn’t help anybody.”