Final score: Rockies 4, Phillies 1
If you were only told that Aaron Nola pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just two runs at a notoriously friendly hitter’s park on Monday night, you might’ve assumed the Phillies won.
If you were then told that that notoriously friendly hitter’s park was Coors Field, and you’ve been following the Phillies for any significant part of the last decade, you would’ve assumed they found a way to lose.
You’d be right.
Despite that effective outing from Nola, the Phillies’ bats fell victim to the Rocky Mountain curse that seems to plague their offense, dropping the first game of a three-game set in Denver.
It started out as an uncharacteristic Coors Field pitcher’s duel, with Nola and Rockies starter Chad Kuhl each pitching into the sixth, the score deadlocked at nothing apiece. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Nola was first to crack: A Charlie Blackmon solo homer put the Rockies up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth.
An out and a single later, Nola handed the ball to the oft-wild José Alvarado, whose three wild pitches allowed C.J. Cron to come all the way around the base paths, putting the Phillies down a pair.
Tasked with keeping the deficit at two, James Norwood surrendered a two-run double with two outs in the seventh — giving the Rockies three of their four runs on the night with two outs. A nice relay nabbed Randal Grichuk trying to extend the double into a triple, but both runs scored in time to put the Phillies down 4-0.
The loss didn’t come without a semblance of hope, as the Phillies tend to provide, sometimes in cruel ways. Didi Gregorius’ RBI double in the top of the eighth put two in scoring position with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate — but some combination of bad luck and bad baserunning manifested in a 1-4 double play off a J.T. Realmuto lineout.
A Rhys Hoskins walk was all the Phillies had going in the ninth, and a five-hit night for the offense ended in yet another Coors Field loss.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Aaron Nola: 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 84 pitches
Nola’s home run bug and Coors Field didn’t seem like an ideal combination heading into Monday’s start, but he was quite effective nonetheless. He located well and commanded the strike zone, throwing first-pitch strikes to the first 12 batters he faced. Charlie Blackmon got to him on a 1-1 fastball that caught way too much of the plate in the sixth; perhaps that evidence of waning command (given Nola’s late-inning struggles) factored into Joe Girardi’s decision to pull him just two batters later. Overall, it was an encouraging outing.
Chad Kuhl: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 B, 4 SO, 0 HR, 68 pitches
The Phillies definitely helped him out with some poor plate discipline, but that doesn’t take away from how dominant Kuhl was on Monday. He probably could have gone deeper, too, were it not for an apparently cut on his finger that prompted his removal before the seventh inning: He was at just 68 pitches through six.
Phillies Nugget Of The Game
Bryson Stott went 0-for-3 in Monday night’s loss, extending his hitless streak to 17 consecutive at bats. That comes after Stott started his major league career with hits in four of his first 12 at bats; he’s now hitting just .138.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Tuesday, April 19 vs. Colorado Rockies at Coors Field
- 8:45 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP, WTTM1680
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