MIAMI -- Aaron Nola entered his 29th start of the season on a hot streak: Over his previous four games -- all of which the Phillies had won -- Nola had posted a 1.44 ERA with 24 strikeouts and just six walks.

But Nola cooled off against the Marlins, getting hit early and often as he went just 4 2/3 innings in the Phillies’ 9-5 loss on Saturday afternoon at loanDepot park -- Nola’s shortest start since June 13, when he went 3 2/3 vs. the Red Sox.

Backstop Garrett Stubbs bailed Nola out a bit. Stubbs took advantage of a less experienced Marlins defense, opting to bunt in his first two plate appearances -- and reaching base both times. In the third, it resulted in a Little League triple (a single and two errors); he quickly scored on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Schwarber. Then, in the fifth, Stubbs laid another bunt down the third-base line for an RBI single.

Stubbs also delivered defensively, catching a popup in foul territory to end a troublesome fifth inning -- and narrowly avoiding a collision with first baseman Bryce Harper.

Stubbs’ catch closed out the fifth before the Marlins could tack on any more runs (they had a 6-3 lead), but Miami had already closed the door on Nola: The righty allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits (two homers) and two walks, striking out five.

Nola was working with a tweaked arsenal, leaning on his four-seam fastball and his knuckle curve more than usual. Nola’s four-seamer accounted for 37% of his pitches vs. Miami (vs. his season average 27.2% usage) while he used his knuckle curve, the main offering in his arsenal (32.9% of his pitches this season), 3.1 percentage points more than usual. He shied away from his sinker and his changeup as a result.