Since turning over a new page in the second half of the season, which started with a series sweep against the Marlins, the Phillies haven’t been able to replicate those winning ways.

After Saturday night's 3-2 walk-off loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, Philadelphia has now lost eight of its past 12 games. The starting rotation was once to blame, with its 2-6 record and 7.30 ERA in 11 second-half games entering Saturday, but now the focus is on the offense -- or lack thereof.

• Box score

While starting pitcher Aaron Nola continued to dominate since his return from the injured list -- six innings, three hits, two earned runs, one walk and five strikeouts -- Philadelphia’s lineup didn’t string together enough hits to combat the Pirates.

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After Bryce Harper tied the game at 2 in the top of the eighth, Pittsburgh rallied against left-handed reliever José Alvarado in the bottom of the ninth. Bryan Reynolds led off the home half with a double and the Pirates kept the line moving for Jacob Stallings to plate Reynolds on a walk-off fielder’s choice.

Stallings was 0-for-2 when he stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners. Stallings’ .158 career batting average and .211 career slugging percentage with runners on first and third made the case for Alvarado to pitch to the No. 6 hitter rather than intentionally walk him in favor of Rodolfo Castro and his .219 batting average.

"I felt good about [Alvarado] getting a ground ball,” manager Joe Girardi said. “And that's exactly what he got."

The grounder bounced to Alec Bohm at third with the infield pulled in to make a close play at home. Reynolds, the lead runner, was moving on contact and narrowly beat Bohm’s throw to J.T. Realmuto for the Pirates to claim the series win. The Phillies are now two games below .500 and eight games out of the second Wild Card spot in the National League.

“It's tough, man, no doubt,” Nola said of the walk-off loss. “But [we'll] come tomorrow and get ready to play and get a win tomorrow.”

This loss comes on the heels of the Phils being shut out during a one-hit loss to the Pirates in the series opener. When Philadelphia has been one-hit in the past, the club has responded well the next game, with a record of 5-3 and an average of five runs per game. The Phillies' last one-hit game came Aug. 8, 2019, in San Francisco, only for Harper to break out the next day with two homers and four RBIs.

That wasn’t the case Saturday, as Philadelphia scored two runs on eight hits, left nine on base and finished 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

“This is how it's going to be, it's baseball,” Nola said of the offense. “We've seen it from our hitters, where they score seven, eight, nine, 10 [runs]. That's just how it works sometimes.”

Through the fourth inning on Saturday, the Phillies had just one hit in their last 12 frames. Their first baserunner came in the top half of the fourth, when Harper benefited from a fielding error by the second baseman Castro. But Andrew McCutchen grounded out to third in the following at-bat, making the defensive miscue inconsequential.

In the fifth inning, the Phillies were finally able to outdo their offensive output from Friday night. Brad Miller led off the frame with a first-pitch line drive into center that fell just inches away from shortstop Kevin Newman’s leaping reach.

Bohm then connected on a hanging curveball over the middle of the plate for Philadelphia’s third hit in two days. The inning was kept alive with Travis Jankowski's line drive, only for the pitcher, No. 9 hitter Nola, to step up to the plate with the bases loaded.

Nola isn't necessarily known as a slugger, but the sacrifice fly that was caught 252 feet away in right field had him producing more than the heart of the Phillies’ lineup Saturday. The right-hander plated Miller on the play to cut the Pirates’ lead to 2-1 and mark Philadelphia's first run of the series.

"We've got over a little over two months left. Every game matters; obviously you know that, we all know that, it's obviously not over,” Nola said. “It would be nice to go on a good stretch here, but we have to take it game by game, and everybody knows that. So, this is kind of what we have to do now, go out tomorrow and take care of business.”