Final Score: Rockies 5, Phillies 4
The Colorado Rockies at home were supposed to be a favorable matchup for the Phillies. Colorado came in to the series with an 18-50 record on the road and only two series wins away from Coors Field this season. The Phillies were 5-1 against the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park since 2018.
Philadelphia came into the series 2.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. They end the series 4.5 games out of first place as they dropped 3 of 4 to one of the worst road teams in baseball. The Atlanta Braves took two of three from the Miami Marlins at home.
When asked about his thoughts on the series, manager Joe Girardi kept it simple: “It stunk.”
The Phillies were off to a great start in Sunday’s game. They got on the board first thanks to a first inning double from J.T. Realmuto. Starter Aaron Nola struck out seven through the first four frames and looked sharp early on.
But at times when Nola has looked great this year, it usually takes one pitch in a favorable count to derail everything. It happened twice this afternoon as both Nola and Héctor Neris were taken deep by Garrett Hampson while they had him in the hole.
Nola went from looking like his best self to his 2021 self, which is not his best self. With one out and a man on, Colton Welker hit a fly ball near the right field corner that should have been caught by Harper. He lost the ball in the sun and Welker’s fly ball was ruled a hit. The next batter Hampson was in an 0-2 hole. Nola and Realmuto went with a curve and it hung just enough for Hampson to drive it well out of the ballpark to give the Rockies a 3-2 lead. Nola has now allowed 27 earned runs in the fifth inning of games this season.
Realmuto reached in the sixth with a lead-off single up the middle. Rockies reliever Ashton Goudeau and catcher Elias Díaz were worried about Realmuto possibly taking off. After multiple pickoff attempts, Realmuto stole second easily and advanced to third on a ground ball from Freddy Galvis. Realmuto scored a batter later on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3.
The 0-2 home run haunted the Phillies again in the seventh. With two outs and two strikes on Hampson, Neris badly missed his spot with the fastball and Hampson drove it over the seats to retake the lead for the Rockies. It was the Phillies’ 16th home run surrendered this season on an 0-2 count, which leads all of baseball.
The Phillies had the tying run at second with one out in the ninth. The pinch hitter McCutchen and Odúbel Herrera grounded out to end the game.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Ryan Feltner: 3 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO, 81 pitches
In his second MLB start, Feltner lost the zone near the end. He almost got away with it, but Nola singled on a 2-0 count with two outs to score a second run for the Phillies. The 2018 fourth round pick can say he had a better outing than he did last time out. He gave up three home runs (including one on his first MLB pitch) in his first start against Atlanta.
Aaron Nola: 5 1/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 83 pitches
Let’s run through the cliches real quickly. The Phillies needed more from Nola. He struck out a ton of batters, walked nobody and looked good in the early innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth and gave up a crushing home run that turned his outing around. Since he was lifted from the game before getting through six innings, the Phillies had to use five relievers behind him to get through nine innings.
Phillies Nugget Of The Game
Nola recorded his 200th strikeout of the season in the fifth inning of Sunday’s game. It’s the third time in his career he has reached that mark. Per the broadcast, he has the same number of 200 strikeout seasons with the Phillies as Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels did.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Tuesday, Sept. 14 vs. Chicago Cubs at Citizens Bank Park
- 7:05 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP
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